A 61 year-old man was admitted with fever and chest discomfort. He had undergone aortic root replacement for annuloaortic ectasia at age 57. Computed tomography showed a pseudoaneurysm and an abscess formation around the aortic root. Prosthetic valve endocarditis was diagnosed and the underwent repeat aortic root replacement. After debridement and irrigation of the abscess cavity, the left ventricular outflow tract was reconstructed with an equine pericardium, which was rolled to form a conduit. The pericardial conduit was securely sutured to the healthy left ventricular wall and the mitral annulus. A 25 mm-Freestyle valve was then sutured to the distal end of the conduit. The previous prosthetic vascular graft was removed and Completely replaced with a new prosthesis. This method provided secure fixation of a new prosthetic valved conduit to the normal left ventricular tissue with an excellent operative visual field.

AIMTo analyze the relationship between sperm mitochondrial membrane potential and sperm motility parameters by means of a computer-assisted sperm analyzer (CASA) and in-vitro fertilization rate(%FR).

METHODSSemen samples were obtained from 26 men undergoing in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET). Informed consent was obtained from all men prior to the study. Samples were prepared using wash and swim-up method in HEPES-HTF medium. The sperm motility (%MOT), progressive motility (%PMOT), average path velocity (VAP) microm/s), straight line velocity (VSL) (micro m/s), curvilinear velocity (VCL) (microm/s) and %hyperactivated sperm (%HA), and the %FR were assessed. The samples were incubated in the presence of 2.0 mciromol/L of 5,5',6,6'-tetra-chloro-1,1',3,3'-tetraethylbenzimidazolyl-carbocyanine iodide (JC-1) for 30 min at 37 degrees C in air and washed in PBS before flow cytometry (FACSCalibur: Becton Dickinson) analysis. The mitochondrial probe JC-1 was used to identify the mitochondrial membrane potential. The sperm was divided into three populations according to the fluorescence pattern as follows: the high mitochondrial membrane potential group (n=8), the moderate group (n=5), and the low group (n=13). Statistical analysis was performed using unpaired t-test.

RESULTSSignificant differences were found between the high and the low groups in %MOT (91.1+/-8.5 vs 63.0+/-32.7, mean+/-SD), VAP (73.0+/-14.2 vs 52.1+/-12.5), VCL (127.0+/-28.1 vs 87.0+/-22.6), %HA (27.3+/-23.6 vs 7.2+/-9.0) and %FR [73.2 (48/56) vs 59.0 (69/117)]. No significant differences were found in other CASA parameters.

CONCLUSIONWhen the sperm mitochondrial membrane potential increases, sperm motility parameters and fertility potential will also increase. The JC-1 dye method is useful to predict sperm fertility potential.

Embryo Transfer ; Female ; Fertility ; physiology ; Fertilization in Vitro ; Flow Cytometry ; Humans ; Intracellular Membranes ; physiology ; Male ; Membrane Potentials ; physiology ; Mitochondria ; physiology ; ultrastructure ; Semen ; physiology ; Sperm Motility ; Spermatozoa ; physiology