Male infertility. What is a semen analysis (spermogram)?
Male infertility is not uncommon today. In half of married couples who have faced such a problem, the cause of infertility is the husband. Poor sperm quality is caused by various factors, such as bad habits, environmental pollution, inflammatory diseases of the genitourinary system, and endocrine gland disorders. A spermogram is used to diagnose male infertility.
A spermogram is a quantitative and qualitative analysis of sperm, which allows you to assess male reproductive function. When examining infertile couples, the husband is first examined.
Normally, at least 2 ml of viscous white-gray sperm with a specific smell is released per ejaculation. There should be no impurities of mucus, blood, pus or urine in the ejaculate. The environment of sperm is alkaline.
A healthy man has 20-200 million spermatozoa in 1 ml of ejaculate, more than 50% of which should be mobile and have a normal shape. Leukocytes are also present in semen, but no more than one per million.
Most doctors recommend you ejaculate directly into a provided sample cup and not use a condom.
Sperm counts are highest if you've waited at least 2 days between instances of ejaculation, but waiting longer than 5 days can mean your sample will have fewer motile sperm and lower sperm quality. So, for best results, you should abstain from ejaculation for 2–5 days before producing your sample for sperm testing or cryopreservating of the sample for the further IVF treatment.
In our medical center you may pass not only spermogram, but DNA-fragmentation or HBA-test as well and have a consultation with the doctor urologist due to the results.