Pregnancy outcomes after vasectomy reversal for female partners 35 years old or older

We review the outcomes after vasectomy reversal for couples with female partners 35 years old or older.

A retrospective review of experience at 2 institutions was performed. Patency was defined as the presence of motile sperm. Patients with less than 6 months of followup were excluded from the patency rate analysis unless they had sperm in the semen. Similarly, patients with less than 12 months of followup or no ongoing interest in establishing conception were excluded from the pregnancy rate analysis unless they had established a pregnancy or they were azoospermic with sufficient followup.

A total of 46 men with partners 35 years old or older underwent vasectomy reversal at 2 institutions. Mean partner age was 37 +/- 2 years, and median obstructive interval was 10 years. Bilateral vasovasostomy was performed in 43 men, unilateral vasovasostomy in 2 and vasovasostomy/vasoepididymostomy in 1. Of the 46 men 27 had followup semen analyses with a patency rate of 81% (22). Transient patency occurred in 2 cases (7%). Pregnancy occurred in 35% of the couples (14 of 40 patients) with sufficient followup. The ongoing/live delivery rate was 33% (13 of 40 cases). The pregnancy and ongoing/delivery rates were 46% (12 of 26 patients) and 46% (12 of 26) for female partners 35 to 39 years old, and 14% (2 of 14) and 7% (1 of 14) for female partners older than 40, respectively.

Vasectomy reversal offers reasonable chance for success when the female partner is 35 years old or older. The chance for success is similar to that of a single cycle of in vitro fertilization with intracytoplasmic sperm injection. These couples should not be eliminated from consideration for reversal simply because the female partner is 35 years old or older.