The role of oocyte maturity in the treatment of infertility because of teratozoospermia and normozoospermia with gamete intrafallopian transfer.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the effect of oocyte maturity on pregnancy rate (PR) in patients undergoing gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT) procedures for infertility and in whom male partners had either normozoospermia or teratozoospermia.

DESIGN

A prospective study using a combination of clomiphene citrate and human menopausal gonadotropin for ovulation induction was carried out. Five hundred thirty-seven GIFT treatment cycles were analyzed, and 423 cycles yielded four or more oocytes. Patients were divided into two groups according to the sperm morphology: those with less than 14% normal forms and those with greater than 14% normal morphology (as judged by strict criteria). These two groups were divided into a further five subcategories depending on the number of metaphase II oocytes transferred.

RESULTS

In the group less than 14% normal forms (category I; 4 metaphase I oocytes replaced), three pregnancies resulted from 33 cycles (9.09%), and in category V (4 metaphase II oocytes transferred) the PR was 15% (14/95) per cycle. In the group with greater than 14% normal forms, in category I, the PR was 16% (3/19) per cycle, and in category V, the PR was 33% (20/61) per cycle. The effect of morphology (less than 14% normal forms versus greater than 14% normal forms) on pregnancy outcome is significant (P = 0.0161). The overall effect of increasing the number of metaphase II oocytes on the pregnancy outcome was not significant (P = 0.1098). However, in the group with greater than 14% normal forms, there was a significant improvement in PR (P = 0.04) in category V.

CONCLUSION

During this prospective study, it was shown that sperm morphology plays a significant role in the pregnancy outcome in a GIFT program.