Very severe oligozoospermia with AZFc microdeletion patients may affect intracytoplasmic sperm injection clinical outcomes: A propensity score matching analysis.

PURPOSE

To explore whether spermatozoa from AZFc microdeletion patients affect their outcomes of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).

METHODS

Eighty-five patients with AZFc microdeletion were recruited. A control group of one hundred and forty patients with severe oligozoospermia but without AZF microdeletion was selected using propensity score matching analysis with a 1:2 nearest neighbor algorithm ratio. The ICSI outcomes of the two groups were compared.

RESULTS

AZFc microdeletion had lower rates of normal fertilization (73% vs. 80%,  = 0.17) and high-quality embryos (44% vs. 58%,  = 0.07) than the control group. There was no significant difference in the clinical pregnancy rate, miscarriage rate, and live birth rate between the two groups. When the sperm concentration was <1 million/mL, the AZFc microdeletion group exhibited lower rates of fertilization (71% vs. 80%,  = 0.03), high-quality embryo (44% vs. 58%,  = 0.02), clinical pregnancy (57% vs. 76%,  = 0.02), and live birth (49% vs. 72%,  = 0.01) than the control group. However, if sperm concentration was ≥1 million/mL, no significant differences were found.

CONCLUSION

If the sperm concentration is <1 million/mL, AZFc microdeletion do have a detrimental effect on most outcomes of ICSI.