Cytogenetics of human spermatozoa. The frequency of various chromosome aberrations and their relationship to clinical and biological parameters.

Human sperm chromosomes can be visualized after their fusion with zona-free hamster eggs. We analyzed a total of 867 metaphases from 33 men that had been classified into three different groups. We present a detailed summary of the kind and frequency of chromosome aberrations we encountered. A comparison of our results with previous studies demonstrates considerable variations in numerical and structural chromosome anomalies in spermatozoa from normal, healthy men. The possible reasons for this are discussed. We reviewed some factors which are supposed to correlate with the occurrence of sperm chromosome aberrations; the effect of paternal age is still uncertain.