Notulae seminologicae. 4. Mathematical evaluation of submicroscopical alterations in spermatozoa of sterile men with varicocele.

In this paper the mathematical formula recently proposed by Baccetti & Mirolli in this journal is used for the quantitative electron microscopical evaluation of six submicroscopical defects frequently present in the spermatozoa ejaculated by patients affected by various degrees of varicocele. All these characteristics are independent from each other and are in some way related to imperfect sperm maturation. They concern the shape and position of the acrosome, the status of the chromatin, of the mitochondria, of the axoneme, the individuality of the cell. The incidence in the sperm population of these submicroscopical characters is clearly related to the degree of the affection as estimated by usual clinical parameters. This demonstrates that the electron microscopical sperm analysis evaluated by the present formula is a very sensitive tool in revealing fine prognostical parameters.