[Intrauterine insemination with the husband's sperm: conclusions of five years experience]

We analyzed retrospectively 936 intrauterine insemination (IUI) cycles with husband's sperm (384 couples). Superovulation and induction monitoring occurred in the majority of cases; IUI was timed 36-40 h after ovulatory hCG. The overall pregnancy rate per cycle (PR/C) was 11.4% (107/936). Data analysis demonstrated that PR/C decreased with infertility duration, woman's age (especially after 38 years old) and number of attempts (significantly after the 4 th cycle). Superovulation (in particular by antiestrogens) and induction monitoring seemed to provide an increase in cycle pregnancy rate. Highest PR/C were observed in dysovulation and male infertility groups. In cases of sperm defects, our data showed that 2 parameters had a significant influence on pregnancy outcome: the number of motile progressive inseminated spermatozoa (> 300,000) and the spermatozoa survival rate after 24 h (> 50%). As a conclusion, intrauterine insemination can be proposed as a satisfying treatment of infertility, if precise protocol is followed and its indications well-defined.