Azoospermia Treatment

What is Azoospermia?

Azoospermia, which indicates ZERO SPERM COUNT is an infertility issue that affects Only 1 percent of all men and 15 percent of infertile males.

In a normal body of a man, sperms are produced in the testicles and travel through the reproductive tract. After reaching the reproductive tract, the sperms mixes with the fluid produced by prostate and seminal vesicles and that makes up semen. Now, a man who has azoospermia has no production of sperm in the testicles. The semen in such men only contains fluid in it. This condition is referred to as no sperm count.

Everything You Need to Know About Azoospermia​ Treatment

Symptoms | Types | Causes  | Treatment 

Symptoms of Azoospermia

When one has azoospermia, he may not know it until his wife is not being able to conceive for a long time and he consults a fertility clinic. An azoospermic male usually has normal sexual functions and no ejaculatory dysfunction. In this case, only when you visit a fertility clinic and get the semen analysis test done, you may find out that you have azoospermia. Here the semen is examined under high magnification microscope to look for the sperm count. A person can be confirmed as azoospermic only once 2 semen samples have been examined and both show zero sperm count. This condition generally has no symptoms.

In other cases, you might see some symptoms based on hormonal imbalances or some genetic chromosomal conditions that are underlying. Some signs and symptoms may include:

• Erectile dysfunction
• Swelling, and discomfort in the testicle area
• Low sex drive
• Facial and body hair loss

Types of Azoospermia

Azoospermia can be divided into three types which are:

• Obstructive Azoospermia: It is a condition in which there is a production of sperms in the testicles but due to a blockage in the reproductive tract, the sperms cannot exit the body. This blockage can be found in vas deferens, epididymis, or in any other part of the reproductive tract. In this case, you ejaculate and there is semen, but due to the blockage, there is no measurable number of sperms in the semen.
• Nonobstructive Azoospermia: It is a condition in which there is poor or no production of sperms in the testicles. This can be a result of some defects in the structure or functions of the testicles or defect at the level of pituitary in the brain.

Causes of Azoospermia

Different causes of azoospermia depend upon the type of azoospermia. Some of the causes are:

1. Pretesticular Causes

Here the tests are normal, but they are not able to produce sperm. It may be because of low hormone levels example in Kallmann syndrome or chemotherapy of the brain. This type is uncommon.

2. Testicular Causes

• Infection in your reproductive organs, for example epididymitis and urethritis.
• Absent testis( Anorchia) or non-descended testes(Cryptorchidism)
• Viral infections as mumps can cause orchitis, leading to swelling of one or both testicles.
• Groin injury example due to cricket ball, rugby or football etc.
• Cancer or its treatments, like radiation or chemotherapy.
• Surgery in the groin area.
• Genetic conditions, such as Klinefelter’s syndrome, Y chromosome deletion and Cystic fibrosis, Sertoli only Cell Syndrome among a few common ones.

3. Kallmann syndrome

Here testes produce sperms normally but there is a traffic jam which is why the sperms cannot come out of the penis due to blocked reproductive tract. This is called obstructive azoospermia. One thing to note is that following things are RESPONSIBLE FOR 40% CASES OF AZOOSPERMIA.

• Acquired causes as infections, injury or surgery.
• A vasectomy
• Retrograde ejaculation: In this condition semen goes into the urinary bladder instead of coming out of the penis during an orgasm.

Treatment of Azoospermia

Once azoospermia has been diagnosed the doctor tries to ascertain the cause. This may involve a physical examination, a blood test to check hormone levels and scrotal ultrasound if required. Genetic tests may be required especially if there is no obstruction.

Now, the treatment of azoospermia also depends upon its type. Obstructive Azoospermia can be treated with the help of the reconstruction or reconnection of the tubes that are blocked by the help of a surgery. By doing so the passage of the sperms will be done automatically. Another technique is to do sperm retrieval which can be done by aspiration by a fine needle from testes( PESA) or by biopsy (TESE: surgical extraction of sperm). These sperms can then be frozen and used for conceiving by IVF ICSI. Sperm retrieval may also be beneficial in non-obstructive azoospermia if sperms are being produced by testes.

So don’t worry, majority of the time despite azoospermia you can still become a father by opting for advanced reproductive techniques like IVF or ICSI. There are a lot of azoospermic patient that became father of their own biological child.