Systematic semen culture and its influence on IVF management

Semen specimens from 519 men were cultured for organisms 2 weeks before oocyte recovery for in-vitro fertilization (IVF). The cultures from 72 men contained more than 5000 bacteria/ml and the IVF attempt was postponed. The IVF outcome was assessed in 382 couples in relation to the semen culture result. The pregnancy rate per cycle was significantly reduced when the semen culture contained organisms compared with axenic semen (P less than 0.05). This was independent of the cleavage rate of oocytes and the number of embryos transferred. Although mycoplasma was frequently cultured, chlamydial infection was very rare and no viruses were isolated in this study.