Azoospermia - the absence of sperm explained

<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000" link="#0000EE" vlink="#551A8B" alink="#FF0000"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="550"> <tr> <td width="566" height="41"> <p align="center"><font color="#800000" size="4"><strong>Azoospermia - the absence of sperm</strong></font></p> </td> </tr> </table> <table border="0" cellspacing="1" width="550"> <tr> <td valign="top" width="814"> <p><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><strong><u>Azoospermia</u></strong> is the complete absence of sperm in the semen and as such means that a man will be completely infertile. The diagnosis of azoospermia is sometimes still made even though as many as 500,000 sperm per ml of semen may have been seen because it is extrremely unlikely that the man will be able to father a child naturally. In fact it is rare that a man has absolutely no sperm</font> at all and as long as some sperm are produced it is possible nowadays to help couples through a procedure called ICSI.</p> <p>So, if the doctor says you have azoospermia make sure you ask exactly what the semen analysis results were.</p> <p><font face="Tahoma" size="2">Azoospermia occurs in about 2% of men in the general population. So whilst not common there are plenty of infertile men around - in the UK alone we would expect to find at least 300,000 men with azoospermia and many of these would appear extremely healthy and have no indication that any problem might exist ! In addition around 10-20% of men attending infertility centers will probably have azoospermia as well. </font></p> <p><font face="Tahoma" size="2">This means that if you and your partner have been trying for a year or more to have a baby there is an increased risk that you may have a problem.</font></p> <p><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><strong><u>Aspermia </u></strong>is an absence of any ejaculate (semen) and is much rarer. </font></p> <p> </p> <p><font face="Tahoma" size="2">Note : The finding of azoospermia often comes as a surprise for a couple since there often are no symptoms (there frequently is an ejaculate and a normal ejaculation process). Whilst this can be very distressing it is possible to offer treatment through a fertility specialist in many cases so it is importnat not to just give up and think there is no hope. If treatment does fail it is possible to help some couples by using the new ICSI procedures.</font></p> <hr> <p> </p> </td> </tr> </table> </body>