[Intra-uterine insemination with activated sperm. Results of conception compared in the various types of infertility...

A total of 180 infertile couples were treated with intra-uterine insemination of homologous capacitated sperm. The fertility disorder was: a cervical factor in 80 couples (44.4%), a male factor in 68 others (37.8%) and unexplained infertility in 32 couples (17.8%). All the patients received ovarian stimulation with HMG, and with ultrasonographic monitoring. Insemination was performed when the diameter of the dominant follicle reached 18 mm, and HCG 5,000 UI was given on the same day; another insemination was performed 40 hours later if the dominant follicle was still present. The 0.5 ml insemination sample was prepared through a migration-capacitation procedure into Earles medium which yielded 15% of the total motile spermatozoa in the ejaculate. A total of 22 pregnancies were recorded (12% of the couples) in 659 therapeutic cycles; the results however differed according to the infertility disorder: 18.8% of pregnancies in the cervical factor group, 15.6% in the unexplained infertility group and 2.9% only in the male factor group. The lowest number of inseminated motile spermatozoa for pregnancy to occur was 0.4 million. A mild hyperstimulation syndrome was noted in 28 cycles (3.1%); no complications of infectious or immunologic origin occurred. It appears that a procedure which results in a satisfactory pregnancy rate when the sperm is normal (cervical or unexplained infertility) yields poor conceptional results when the semen is abnormal. In cases where the male factor is predominant, intra-uterine insemination should not be performed in the periovulatory period but at ovulation time, and therefore requires either an accurate detection of the LH peak or complete hormonal and sonographic assessment in a stimulated cycle.