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Advances in reproductive medicine over the last 10 years have allowed men who were previously considered absolutely sterile to father biological children. Those advances have come on two fronts. The first was the advent of In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) with Intra-Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI).

This technological breakthrough reduced the requirement of the number of sperm needed to fertilize an egg from millions to just one sperm per egg. It means that men with a very low sperm count or men whose sperm we need to extract surgically for other reasons, can still have good results with the ICSI method. Azoospermia is categorized into two types, Obstructive Azoospermia (involving blocked sperm), in which case Testicular Sperm Aspiration (TESA) is the best option and Non-Obstructive (involving a problem with actual sperm production) in which Micro-TESE is the most successful technique to find a sperm cell.

It turns out that men who have no sperm in the ejaculate because of problems with sperm production, a condition called Non-Obstructive Azoospermia (NOA), actually may have small pockets of sperm production within the testicle. In fact, greater than 60% of men with NOA actually do produce small amounts of sperm inside the testicle that can be used with IVF/ICSI to create a baby.

How does Micro-TESE sperm extraction work?

A new surgical technique, called Microsurgical Testicular Sperm Extraction or Micro-TESE has been developed to detect sperm in the testicles of men who have poor sperm production. Because the testicular tubules are microscopic structures, they cannot be distinguished by the naked eye.

However, by using an operating microscope to examine the tubules at the time of testicular biopsy our urologists can selectively remove the “better” or more normal appearing tubules. We must take into consideration that there is a higher chance that he will find sperm in “fuller,” more normal tubules than in scarred or fibrotic tubules.

Once the specimens are removed, the tubules are opened in a Petri dish containing sperm wash media and the search for sperm begins by examining the specimens under the microscope. It can take up to five hours to search for sperm in the specimens.

This is a very involved and tedious process, but very thorough and important. Once they are found, the sperm are then either incubated and injected into awaiting eggs or frozen for future injection. This advanced technique allows us to direct the biopsy to the best areas and increase the chance of finding sperm while removing smaller amounts of tissue than a random biopsy, causing less damage.

Random biopsies are simply inaccurate; it is impossible for a doctor to find possible pockets of sperm by observing the exterior of a testicle, other than by luck.

Micro TESE is an advanced procedure that requires the skill and understanding of an expert micro-surgeon very familiar with testicular tissue. The combination of using the operating microscope, dissecting the testicular tubules and having trained personnel available to search for sperm can make the difference between success and failure for many couples.

Micro-TESE surgery can be performed as a diagnostic procedure and if usable sperm are found, then they can be frozen and the couple is recommended to proceed with ICSI. It can also be performed and timed with an egg retrieval/IVF cycle so that the sperm are injected into the eggs without freezing. Freezing the sperm from men with sperm production problems can be difficult since these sperm are usually few in number and don’t thaw well.

Therefore, the best chance of pregnancy is to use fresh sperm obtained just prior to IVF. The chance of finding sperm with Micro-TESE is higher than 60%. This is twice that of finding sperm by non-microsurgical or needle biopsies taken by general urologists.

Micro-TESE is a great advance in male reproductive surgery that we can offer our patients here at Cyprus HOPE IVF Consultation.