Objective To compaire the physical characteristics of semen morphology before and after semen coagulation-liquefaction under microscope and understand the significance of these characteristics for the determination of semen liquefaction.Methods Semens were placed in sperm counting chamber immediately after collection.The morphological changes of the seminal gelatinous substance during liquefaction were observed under microscope and analyzed.Results Morphological changes during semen liquefaction can be clearly observed.Among 32 samples of semen,forward sperm progression and motility were (30.3?12.4)% and (45.0?14.9)%,(44.9?12.7)% and (59.0?15.3)%,before and after the liquefaction,respectively.The differences were statistically significant (t=-1.130,5.023,P0.05).Conclusions Microscopic observation of the seminal gelatinous substance is a simple and feasible method for objective measurement of sperm liquefaction.These findings suggest it may provide pathological significance on semen liquefaction abnormality in infertility clinic.

Sperm membrane fluidity is one of the causes of male infertility, and it is thought to be related with temperature, reactive oxygen species, oxygen free radicals, anti-sperm antibodies, stilbestrol, and fenvalerate. A deeper insight into the influencing factors of sperm membrane fluidity is of vital importance for in vitro sperm preservation, revival of frozen-thawed sperm, in vitro fertilization and management of male infertility.
Humans ; Infertility, Male ; Male ; Membrane Fluidity ; Semen Preservation ; Sperm Motility ; Sperm-Ovum Interactions ; Spermatozoa ; physiology

OBJECTIVETo examine the semen quality and the sperm morphology in infertile men with varicocele.

METHODSSemen from 98 infertile men with varicocele were studied and those of 130 normal semen donors were taken as the control. Semen analysis was performed based on the methods described in the WHO manual and sperm morphology was evaluated by WHO criteria.

RESULTSA significantly reduced percentage of normal morphologic sperm and of forward progression were found in patients with varicocele comparing with those of the control (P <0.001). The head defects were observed as the predominant type of sperm malformation.

CONCLUSIONThe varicocele increases malformed sperm in ejaculates, which may result from impaired male fertility by varicocele. Sperm morphologic assessment with WHO criteria provides a sensitive and practical measurement of sperm damage in infertile men with varicocele.

Adult ; Humans ; Infertility, Male ; complications ; pathology ; Male ; Semen ; Spermatozoa ; abnormalities ; pathology ; Varicocele ; complications ; pathology

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of cryoprotectant with glycerol and the freezing-thawing procedure on the motility of

METHODSThe motion characteristics of human sperm from 18 selected specimens were assessed by computer-assisted human sperm. sperm analysis before and after adding hyper-osmolarity cryoprotectant with glycerol and the freeze-thaw procedure, and the data were evaluated in pairs.

RESULTSThe adding of cryoprotectant caused an increase in the proportion of rapid linear motile sperms (P < 0.05) and sperm velocities, including VCL, VSL and VAP (P < 0.005). But no changes were observed in the proportion of progressively motile sperms and sperm motility. Compared with the data from pre-frozen samples, velocities of post-thawed sperms and the percentage of motile sperms in each grade significantly declined (P < or = 0.01), so did ALH, while WOB, LIN and STR remained unchanged (P > 0.05). Significant differences in ALH, WOB, LIN and STR were observed only in comparison between the post-thawed and pre-treated samples.

CONCLUSIONThe number of Grade a sperms and sperm velocity increased after adding hyper-osmolarity cryoprotectant with glycerol. The sperm motile potential was impaired and even entirely destroyed in some cases by cryodamage. The influences on the sperm motion were differently induced in freezing-thawing procedures.

Cryopreservation ; Cryoprotective Agents ; pharmacology ; Freezing ; Glycerol ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Male ; Semen Preservation ; Sperm Motility ; drug effects

OBJECTIVETo observe the effect of the compound Chinese traditional drug Xianling Gubao Capsule on the semen quality of infertile males.

METHODSWe treated 66 infertile men with Xianling Gubao Capsule for 24 months, and analyzed the semen quality and sperm morphology before and after the treatment.

RESULTSTwo months after the medication, sperm concentration was increased by a small margin, but no statistically significant changes were observed in sperm vitality and motility (P > 0.05), the rate of morphologically normal sperm was significantly raised from 25.8% before treatment to 57.6% (P < 0.05) in those with the normal rate > or = 15%, but decreased from 53.0% to 25.8% (P < 0.05) in those with the normal rate < 9%. Among the 7 cases of oligospermia, the rate of morphologically normal sperm was elevated to an average of 10.9% after the 4-month medication, significantly different from the baseline rate of 5.8% (P < 0.05). Five spontaneous pregnancies and 1 successful IVF-ICSI were achieved during the treatment.

CONCLUSIONXianling Gubao Capsule can improve semen quality and significantly increase the percentage of morphologically normal sperm.

Adult ; Capsules ; Female ; Humans ; Infertility, Male ; drug therapy ; Male ; Phytotherapy ; Pregnancy ; Semen Analysis ; Sperm Count ; Sperm Motility ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo study causes of ineffectiveness of microvascular decompression (MVD) in treatment of hemifacial spasm (HFS).

METHODSReoperative MVD was performed in 23 HFS patients with previous ineffective MVD. In the patients, the main causes of ineffectiveness included misjudgment of compressing vessels (7 patients), improper insertion of decompressing grafts (9), improper selection of grafts (5) and small grafts (2).

RESULTSSymptoms of HFS disappeared immediately after the second MVD in 21 patients and delayed in 2 patients (after 2 weeks, 6 weeks). No recurrence of HFS was noted during the follow-up period of 1.0 - 6.0 years (mean 3.4 years).

CONCLUSIONSMVD is an effective microsurgical method for treating HFS. Accurate judgement of compressing vessels and proper decompression are the key to surgical effectiveness.

Adult ; Decompression, Surgical ; methods ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hemifacial Spasm ; surgery ; Humans ; Male ; Medical Futility ; Microsurgery ; methods ; Middle Aged ; Reoperation ; Treatment Outcome ; Vascular Surgical Procedures ; methods ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the efficacy and safety of endoscopic mucous resection with transparent cap (EMR-Cap) and endoscopic multi-band mucosectomy (MBM) in the treatment of early esophageal cancer and precancerous lesion.

METHODSA retrospective study was performed to review 30 EMR-Cap cases from December 2008 to December 2009 and 32 MBM cases from January 2010 to January 2011 of early esophageal cancer and precancerous lesions. The differences between these two techniques in efficacy, safety, and cost were compared.

RESULTSIn EMR-Cap group, the median resection time was 26(10-56) min and median procedure time was 43(22-81) min, significantly longer than those in MBM group [10(7-18) min and 32(28-45) min, P=0.036 and 0.038, respectively]. There were no significant differences between the two groups in total thickness and depth of resected lesions (P>0.05). In EMR-Cap group, the median cost was significantly higher than that of MBM group [(5466±354) vs. (4014±368) RMB, P=0.008)].

CONCLUSIONSEMR-Cap and MBM are minimally invasive, safe and effective methods in the treatment of early esophageal cancer and precancerous lesions. Compared to the EMR-Cap, MBM is simple with shorter treatment time and lower cost.

Aged ; Endoscopy ; methods ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; surgery ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mucous Membrane ; surgery ; Precancerous Conditions ; surgery ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the value of transbronchial needle aspiration (TBNA) combined with transesophageal endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) in the diagnosis of mediastinal and pulmonary hilar lesions as well as in the lymph node staging (N staging) of lung cancer.

METHODS129 patients with mediastinal and pulmonary hilar lesions underwent either TBNA or EUS-FNA with cytological needle aspiration. The samples obtained from TBNA or EUS-FNA were examined by both cytologiy and histopathology.

RESULTSOf the 129 patients, 59 underwent TBNA and 70 EUS-FNA. The diagnostic rate were 84.7% (50/59) by TBNA and 94.3% (66/70) by EUS-FNA, resepectively. The diagnosis of 116 (89.9%) patients were confirmed by either TBNA or EUS-FNA. The pathological and cytological diagnostic rates were 92.2% (107/116) and 88.0% (102/116), resepectively. The diagnostic rate was elevated by 8.4% (9/107) through pathological examination. The histological classification rates by cytological and pathological examination were 73.8% (76/116) and 89.3% (92/103), respectively. The diagnostic rate of histological classification was elevated by 35.5% (27/76) through pathological examination.

CONCLUSIONThe combination of TBNA and EUS-FNA can improve the diagnostic rate for wider mediastinal and pulmlonary hilar lesions. Pathological examination of the samples obtained from the TBNA and EUS-FNA can elevate not only the rate of diagnosis but also the rate of histological classification.

Adenocarcinoma ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Biopsy, Fine-Needle ; methods ; Biopsy, Needle ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Endosonography ; methods ; Female ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Lymph Nodes ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Male ; Mediastinal Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; secondary ; Mediastinum ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; Small Cell Lung Carcinoma ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Young Adult

Adult ; Azoospermia/pathology* ; Carbonic Anhydrases/genetics* ; Congenital Abnormalities/genetics* ; Epithelial Sodium Channels/genetics* ; Gene Expression Regulation/genetics* ; Genome, Human ; Humans ; Infertility, Male/genetics* ; Male ; Male Urogenital Diseases/genetics* ; Mutation ; Vas Deferens/abnormalities*

ObjectiveTo search for an effective method for cryopreservation of rare human sperm (RHS) by comparing the effect of RHS cryopreservation technology with that of conventional cryopreservation technology on post-thaw sperm from patients with severe oligozoospermia.

METHODSSemen samples obtained from 82 patients with severe oligozoospermia were preserved by RHS cryopreservation technology, and another 24 samples cryopreserved by conventional technology, the former divided into groups A (sperm concentration < 1×10⁶/ml, n = 54) and B (1×10⁶/ml ≤ sperm concentration < 5×10⁶/ml, n = 28), and the latter included in group C (sperm concentration < 15×106 /ml, n = 24). The survival rate of post-thaw sperm and recovery rate of progressively motile sperm (PMS) were compared among the three groups.

RESULTSThe survival rate of post-thaw sperm was significantly higher in groups A and B than in C (［62.8 ± 18.7］% and ［61.9 ± 17.2］% vs ［50.7 ± 13.5］%, P < 0.05), and so was the recovery rate of PMS (［68.7 ± 18.4］% and ［70.7 ± 15.5］% vs ［29.2 ± 12.4］% , P < 0.05), but there were no statistically significant differences between groups A and B in either of the two parameters (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThe cryopreservation technology for rare human sperm may yield relatively stable post-thaw results and deserves a wide clinical application in preserving male fertility.