Dear doctor

[ptravis]

Dear doctor I am very pleased you have started this sectionn as I am often confused by the clinical terminology, for starters could you please explaine the following, I am sure I am not the only one who does not understand what they mean and the treatment options available:
OLIGOZOOSPERMIA ? ASTHENOZOOSPERMIA ? TERATOZOOSPERMIA ? AZOOSPERMIA ? kLINFELTERS ? kALLMANNS ?

Many thanks

[mensfe_admin]

Hi - re- your questions
OLIGOZOOSPERMIA:
Definition - Poor sperm count and motility, below 20 million per ml..
Treatment options - If below 10 million sperm per ml. requires "Intracytoplasmic sperm Injection (ICSI)

ASTHENOZOOSPERMIA:
Definition - Normal sperm count, but below 40% motility.
Treatment option - If below 20% requires ICSI.

TERATOZOOSPERMIA:
Definition - Normal count and motily, but over 60% abnormal sperm.
Treatment option - If over 85% requires ICSI.

AZOOSPERMIA:
Definition - No sperm in ejaculate.
Treatment options - Requires further investigation by a specialist (Surgical Andrologist).

KLINEFELTERS:
Definition - No sperm in ejaculate as a result of abnormal chromosome arrangment.
Treatment option - Currently very little can be done beyond diagnosis. Treatment with donor sperm may be one option to consider.

KARTAGENERS:
Definition - problem in sperm tails often associated with poor lung function.
Treatment options beyond diagnosis - Requires ICSI.

[rtaylor]

All very interesting - My question is what is egg freezing all about ?? - My good lady read some article in a magazine that says it is a good idea for those who are contemplating having children later on in life.

[mensfe_admin]

Egg freezing can be done for many reasons, these can vary from, for example:

Women who wish to postpone childbearing - Fertility declines as a woman gets older. This decline is said to be significant after the age of 35 and gets worse after the age of 40. Freezing eggs prior to this age for use later is seen by some as an option they wish to take.
To:
Women faced with premature menopause or permanent sterility - Usually this would be as a result of planned chemotherapy or radio therapy for cancer. The storing of their eggs prior to treatment may be their only option to have their family later.

Science is said to have advanced greatly over the last couple of years for the freezing and successful thawing of eggs not to mention the most important factor, "live birth".
The success rate now published by some clinics is as high as 90%, however the female wishing to undertake this programme is assessed and screened prior to treatment (IVF) as to its viability. This would include entering into a contract of consent (this allows you to specify what will happen to the eggs, for example, if one dies), screened for HIV and Hepatitis B and C thereafter the patient would undertake an IVF cycle which includes taking drugs to stimulate the ovaries. Having vaginal ultrasound scans and blood tests to monitor the developing eggs and collecting the eggs using ultrasound guidance.
After collection the eggs are carefully washed and prepared in the labortary before the freezing process known as "Vitrification". Vitrification is a different process to "cryopreserve" and has a much faster cooling rate, and different liquids are used to protect the egg during the freezing process.
Once the eggs are frozen they are stored in a secure tank containing liquide nitrogen in a state of "suspended animation" in which the normal process of degradation is halted. Eggs can be kept in this frozen state for up to 10 years.

When one decides to use them they will be removed from storage and warmed through a series of liquids that help restore the natural condition of the egg. All surviving eggs will be injected with sperm (see information on ICSI) to aid fertilisation.
The resulting embryos will be cultured in a growth medium for between two and five days before selecting a number of embryos for transfer into the uterus.
Aprox 14 days later one would undertake a pregnancy test to assertain success.