Purpose: To assess normal fertilization, clinical pregnancy, and live birth rates after the use of microscopic epididymal sperm aspiration (MESA).
Methods: One-hundred-and-sixty azoospermic participants who underwent MESA were evaluated. The MESA was performed by using a micropuncture method with a micropipette. In cases in which motile sperm were not obtained after the MESA, conventional or micro-testicular sperm extraction (TESE) was completed.
Results: Adequate motile sperm were retrieved in 71 participants by using MESA and in 59 out of 89 participants by using TESE. Of the total number of patients, 123 underwent intracytoplasmic sperm injection. After MESA, the normal fertilization rate was 73.5% and the clinical pregnancy rate per case was 95.7%. Healthy deliveries resulted after MESA in 65 (92.9%) cases and after TESE in 38 (71.7%) cases.
Conclusion: The MESA specimen collection does not have any special requirements, such as mincing tissue disposition. The MESA also can reduce the amount of laboratory work that is needed for cryopreservation. In the authors' experience, MESA is a beneficial procedure and should be given priority over TESE.
Keywords: azoospermia; cryopreservation; intracytoplasmic sperm injection outcome; microscopic epididymal sperm aspiration; sperm retrieval.