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Round-headed spermatozoa in semen specimens from fertile and subfertile men
John Kalahanis1, David Rousso, Anargyros Kourtis
1Division of Endocrinology and Human Reproduction, 2nd Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Objective:
To investigate the frequency of round-headed, or acrosomeless, spermatozoa, determine the percentage and evaluate the possible correlation with other semen parameters.
Study Design:
Semen specimens from 114 subfertile men aged 24-53 years (mean +/- SD 33.3 +/- 6.3) and from 60 fertile men aged 24-44 years (33.1 +/- 4.2) were studied. Two semen specimens were examined from each individual, with a six- to eight-week interval. Sperm morphology was evaluated from Papanicolaou-stained smears, and the classification of abnormal sperm forms was made according to WHO guidelines.
Results:
The percentage of round-headed spermatozoa was 2.3% +/- 0.5 in subfertile and 0.5% +/- 0.1 in fertile men. Round-headed spermatozoa existed in semen specimens from 36.8% of subfertile and 25.0% fertile men. Of subfertile men, 14.9% had round-headed spermatozoa at a higher percentage than the highest normal limit found in sperm smears from fertile men.
Conclusion:
In some subfertile men with a high percentage of round-headed spermatozoa, infertility could be attributed to the cause of this morphologic abnormality. Moreover, morphologic abnormalities in the neck were significantly more frequent in round-headed spermatozoa than in spermatozoa with normal heads.