Analysis of sperm quality and morphology

Objective To investigate the clinical value of sperm quality and morphology and their association. Methods 248 semen samples were examined according to the WHO criteria. The sperm density, motility, viability, and dynamic parameters were analyzed by computer-aided sperm analysis (CASA); sperm morphology was detected using Diff-Quik staining recommended by WHO. The software SPSS 13.0 was used for statistical analysis. Results Poor sperm motility was found in 74.6% of all the semen samples, normal motility in 25.4%, Oligospermia in 5.6%, asthenospermia in 4.8%, and normal semen in 24.6%. The sperm morphology was normal in 73.4% of the samples and teratozoospermia occurred in 26.6%. Sperm motility and viability were positively related with the percetage of normal morphology (r = 0.52,r = 0.53,P 0.01), so were each dynamic parameter and sperm density (P 0.01). The percentage of normal sperm morphology was greater in the normal motility group than in the asthenospermia group (P 0.01). Conclusions Asthenospermia and teratozoospermia are the major factors for male infertility. The sperm morphology is closely related to sperm motility, viability, density and dynamic parameters. The analysis of sperm quality and morphology plays an important role in the clinical diagnosis of male infertility.