Further investigations on the ultrastructure of spermatozoa in chronic alcoholics

The submicroscopic studies of spermatozoa were performed on 40 chronic alcoholics with the period of alcoholism surpassing 15 years (on average 19 years). After a double routine morphological evaluation of semen the electron microscopic studies were made. They revealed the following abnormalities: malformations of the head and nucleus, altered chromatin condensation, abnormalities of the acrosome which was often absent, chaotic arrangement of mitochondria or even their local absence. Double-headed spermatozoa were observed. The hitherto undescribed, in man, "whorls" were frequently observed in the cytoplasm of the head and neck. The dependence of these abnormalities on the length of the period of alcoholism was discussed.