Volume of semen as a parameter of its quality.

A total of 1655 semen samples obtained from men who underwent initial semen analysis before enrolling for IVF-ET programme were analysed. The semen samples were categorized arbitrarily on the basis of volume as high (> 4.5 ml), normal (1.5-4.5 ml) and low (< 1.5 ml). The semen parameters studied vis-a-vis volume of the sample were viscosity, osmolality, motility, sperm count and morphology. The different volume groups were also compared to the overall quality of the sample. The study showed that high and low volume semen were associated with high incidence of spermatozoa exhibiting subfertile characteristics. Normal volume per se did not indicate the quality of the sample, however high and low volumes were indicators of semen of subfertile quality. There was an inverse correlation between osmolality and volume of semen sample. Thus the parameter 'volume' gives a rough estimate of the quality of the sample.