Method to Predict Success of Sperm Retrieval in Men with Nonobstructive Azoospermia
- Detailed Technology Description
- The invention provides a diagnostic test to predict the success of retrieving sperm from a male with nonobstructive azoospermia (NOA) during testicular sperm extraction surgery (TESE) by measuring the expression levels of the heat shock factor Y-linked gene (HSFY) in testicular or semen samples.
- Others
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Heat shock factor Y chromosome (HSFY) mRNA level predicts the presence of retrievable testicular sperm in men with nonobstructive azoospermia. Fetil. Steril. 2011, 96: 303-8
- *Abstract
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Surgical sperm retrieval fails in approximately 50% of cases. The TESE surgery, however, is expensive, often non-reimbursable and has the risk of requiring subsequent lifelong testosterone replacement therapy. Unfortunately there is no clinical test available that reliably predicts the outcome of surgical sperm retrieval in males with NOA in order to guide clinical management and patient decision-making.
HSFY gene expression was determined by quantitative RT-PCR in a study of testicular samples from 54 males with NOA and 9 males with obstructive azoospermia who had undergone TESE informed by microdissection (mTESE) where sperm retrieval outcome was known. HSFY expression was significantly higher in men from whom sperm were successfully retrieved than in men where no sperm were obtained. ROC analysis of the data showed this test had a 67% sensitivity and 93% specificity in predicting successful sperm retrieval among the overall study population. It thus strongly predicts the outcome of mTESE, enabling patients to make educated decisions and to identify patients in whom sperm retrieval is unlikely. Used preoperatively it has the potential to reduce unnecessary costs and risks incurred by undergoing an unsuccessful TESE procedure.
- *Licensing
- Dan-Oscar Antsonda429@cornell.edu212-746-1297
- Country/Region
- USA
