RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To ascertain the relationship between the initial and unprocessed sperm parameters and pregnancy rates in SOIUI, for Asian couples with male factor infertility. DESIGN: Retrospective study. SETTING: A large government tertiary-care women's hospital with 15,000 deliveries per year. POPULATION: One thousand four hundred and seventy nine couples undergoing 2846 cycles of SOIUI. METHODS: All couples enrolled in the SOIUI programme were analysed, comparing initial sperm parameters and the post-processed total motile sperm, against pregnancy rates per cycle. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Pregnancy rates in relation to initial sperm parameters and post-processed total motile sperm. RESULTS: Ninety-three percent of the couples had male factor infertility. The average normal forms for these men was 14.7%. Overall pregnancy rate was 12.1% per completed SOIUI cycle. We found a significant drop in pregnancy rates if the percentage of motile sperms in the unprocessed sperm sample fell below 30%. We also found that insemination of at least 1 million motile sperm resulted in a significant increase in pregnancy rates. CONCLUSIONS: We recommend SOIUI as an effective treatment of suitable couples with male infertility, before embarking on IVF. However, if the initial percentage of motile sperm fell below 30%, or if after processing, the total motile sperm count was fewer than 1 million, these couples should consider in vitro fertilisation.
