Contraception in men: efficacy and immediate toxicity. A study of 18 cases

Ten years ago research into a reversible method of male contraception proved unsuccessful, not for any objective reasons but because volunteers failed to comply with treatment. A change in social attitudes towards contraception, a constant demand for a reversible method of male contraception and the current interest in protecting germinal cell lines by blockage of spermatogenesis during chemotherapy led the authors to reactivate the study. Eighteen volunteers received a synthetic progestogen (Norluten) and a percutaneous testosterone gel. Clinical, biological, hormonal and seminal tests were performed each month. One patient, however, had to withdraw from the trial on medical grounds (hyperlipidaemia). Ten patients achieved azoospermia which is the only guarantee of efficacy. Immediate tolerance was good but protocol compliance was poor since 8 of the 17 volunteers abandoned the trial within a year. Treatment reversibility was evaluated in 15 patients whose F.S.H. level and spermatogenesis returned to normal when contraception was ended. This additional study demonstrates that hormone contraception in males is effective and well-tolerated, but the protocol placed too great a demand on the patients and 50% withdrew from the trial within a year.