Myths of Sperm Morphology- Inter-observer Variance in Human Sperm Morphology Assessment
Journal Title: Chettinad Health City Medical Journal - Year 2018, Vol 7, Issue 1
Abstract
Male infertility has gained focus in the last few decades and in the pursuit of treating the male, more in depth investigations have emerged into the semen analysis and sperm function. Though some authors described that sperm morphology is also a good indicator for male fertility, numerous publications have highlighted its analytical weakness with wide inter and intra observer variations. Aim: The following study was aimed to identify the inter-observer variations of human sperm morphology assessment according to WHO guidelines 2010. Materials and Methods: This was a prospective blinded study conducted in the Department of Reproductive Medicine, Chettinad Super Speciality Hospital, Kelambakkam, and Tamilnadu, India. Semen samples from men who reported for routine semen analysis as a part of their infertility investigations were recruited in this study. A total of 1100 spermatozoa were assessed according to Who 2010 criteria by five senior embryologists simultaneously. The feedback forms were analyzed and compiled for statistical significance. Result: From this study we observed that there was an interobserver variance between the five embryologists in assessing the head and tail defect with P value=0.000 which is statistically significant. Conclusion: This study also shows much subjective variations for morphology assessment of spermatozoa. More details about abnormal forms can lead to more anxiety for both the patients and the clinicians. This is our concern. It is time to revisit the necessity of the laborious process of training for morphology assessment or should semen analysis be simplified to binary assessments with only concentration and motility as its compo- nents.
Authors and Affiliations
Uma Maheswari, Dhanashri D, Ranjani S, Radha P, Pandiyan N
Keywords
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