Fertility Preservation in More than 7000 Male Patients: A Single-Center, Tertiary Care Registry Study over 30 Years

Background/Objectives: Semen cryopreservation has been widely used in recent decades, mainly in patients with male factor infertility (MFI) and patients with cancer (to preserve their fertility potential before undergoing gonadotoxic treatments, such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy). Methods: we evaluated the temporal trend and the existence of factors determining the usage of cryopreserved semen (in order, for instance, to conceive using assisted reproduction techniques (ARTs)). We evaluated 7044 patients who cryopreserved since 1991, evaluating clinical information such as the diagnosis, age, the method with which the collection took place and the number of pick-ups for use in ART. Results: The mean age of the patients was 33.12 ± 8.41 years. The most common cancers were testicular (1758/3262) and hematological cancers (942/3262). Patients who underwent cryopreservation for MFI picked up their samples much more than neoplastic patients (42.15% vs. 8.55%). Patients 35-40 years old picked up their samples more frequently when compared with other age groups. Moreover, we found several data regarding the sub-types of cancers and the methods of semen collection. Conclusions: According to our results, the indication for semen cryopreservation, age and the method of collection might represent a simple way to predict the future use of semen for ART.