Department of Andrology, Sexual Medicine and STIs, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo 11956, Egypt.
Global Andrology Forum (GAF), Moreland Hills, OH 44022, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2024 Sep 17;21(9):1222. doi: 10.3390/ijerph21091222.
Male infertility represents a significant global problem due to its essential health, social, and economic implications. It is unsurprising that scientific research is very active in this area and that advances in the diagnostic and therapeutic fields are notable. This review presents the main diagnostic advances in male infertility, starting from the changes made in the latest WHO Manual of semen analysis and discussing the more molecular aspects inherent to "omics". Furthermore, the usefulness of artificial intelligence in male infertility diagnostics and the latest advances in varicocele diagnosis will be discussed. In particular, the diagnostic path of male infertility is increasingly moving towards a personalized approach to the search for the specific biomarkers of infertility and the prediction of treatment response. The treatment of male infertility remains empirical in many regards, but despite that, advances have been made to help formulate evidence-based recommendations. Varicocele, the most common correctable cause of male infertility, has been explored for expanded indications for repair. The following expanded indications were discussed: elevated sperm DNA fragmentation, hypogonadism, orchalgia, and the role of varicocele repair in non-obstructive azoospermia. Moving forward with the available data, we discussed the stepwise approach to surgical sperm retrieval techniques and the current measures that have been investigated for optimizing such patients before testicular sperm extraction. Finally, the key points and expert recommendations regarding the best practice for diagnosing and treating men with infertility were summarized to conclude this review.
男性不育是一个全球性的重大问题,因为它对健康、社会和经济都有重要影响。毫不奇怪,科学界在这一领域非常活跃,诊断和治疗领域的进展引人注目。本文综述了男性不育症的主要诊断进展,从最新版世界卫生组织精液分析手册中的变化开始,并讨论了“组学”中固有的更分子化的方面。此外,还讨论了人工智能在男性不育症诊断中的应用以及精索静脉曲张诊断的最新进展。特别是,男性不育症的诊断路径越来越倾向于寻找特定的不育症生物标志物和预测治疗反应的个性化方法。尽管如此,男性不育症的治疗在许多方面仍然是经验性的,但仍有一些进展可以帮助制定基于证据的建议。精索静脉曲张是男性不育最常见的可矫正原因,其修复的适应证已得到扩展。讨论了以下扩展适应证:精子 DNA 碎片化升高、性腺功能减退、精索痛以及精索静脉曲张修复在非梗阻性无精子症中的作用。根据现有数据,我们讨论了手术精子提取技术的逐步方法,以及目前为优化这些患者在睾丸精子提取前所进行的研究措施。最后,总结了男性不育症诊断和治疗的最佳实践的要点和专家建议,以结束本文的综述。