Oral pentoxifylline in therapy-resistant idiopathic OAT syndrome

After previous treatment failure using tamoxifen either alone or in combination with kallikrein, 25 patients with idiopathic oligoasthenoteratozoospermia (OAT syndrome) were subjected to 3 months of treatment with pentoxifylline at a dosage of 1200 mg/day. The only statistically significant (p < .008) improvement detected in the post-therapeutic spermiograms was an increase of normal forms. All other ejaculate parameters (density, motility, swelling test, penetration test) remained unchanged, and there was only one post-therapeutic pregnancy. It would appear the pentoxifylline after failure of established treatment modalities is not a therapy of choice in idiopathic OAT syndrome.