Sperm test could help men avoid fertility surgery

A new non-invasive test has been developed that could help men with low sperm counts to conceive via in vitro fertilisation (IVF). The test may be able to predict with good accuracy whether or not conception could be a reality for individuals that have a low sperm count.

Methods that are currently used to ascertain whether a man is able to conceive are highly invasive. Surgery is required to test whether a man's sperm is fully viable for use in IVF treatment and to retrieve the sperm. However, a study published in the journal 'Science Translational Medicine' suggests that viability could be derived based upon testing for two biomarkers, which would then identify individuals that will benefit from sperm retrieval surgery.

Around half of infertility cases are due to male infertility and while some are viable to undergo fertility treatment, some will not be able to conceive at all. Those individuals that can benefit from treatment are able to have sperm surgically extracted. However, there is no guarantee that the surgery will be beneficial as doctors have to look for sperm in the testes, meaning that even those that are unsuitable for IVF still have to go through the invasive procedure.

Canadian scientists have been able to determine two biomarkers found in sperm that are able to indicate whether or not the sperm retrieval surgery would be beneficial. The discovery could mean that any men who are not viable for the invasive procedure are able to avoid physical pain and unnecessary surgery.        

Traditional methods first assess a man's semen under a microscope in order to determine whether any sperm is present. If this testing is negative, the individual will then have to have tissue removed from a testicle in order to examine it and see whether sperm is present. The test will mean that doctors are better able to advise individuals on whether or not the surgical option is right for them.

Doctor Keith Jarvi, from the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, Canada, told the BBC:  "The benefit of this is that we can predict without surgery whether or not a man has sperm or does not have sperm in the testicles.

"You could avoid unnecessary surgery for a number of these men."