COMPARISON OF SPERM DEFORMITY INDEXES BETWEEN PATIENTS WHO HAVE AND HAVE NOT EXPERIENCED COVID-19

Abstract

Objective: Ever since its identification in December 2019, the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has rapidly disseminated worldwide, giving rise to the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease-19) pandemic. The male reproductive system is susceptible to the effects of COVID-19, leading to potential alterations in semen parameters. In this study, we conducted a comparison between patients who have previously contracted COVID-19 and those who have not, specifically focusing on the sperm deformity index (SDI) as a parameter for assessing sperm morphology.
 Material and Method: 134 patients over the age of 18 who applied to Hospital Andrology Laboratory between 29 November 2022 and 29 December 2022 were included in the study. Of these, 44 were patients who have had COVID-19, and 90 were patients who have not had COVID-19. These patients were compared in terms of SDI parameter and other semen parameters (ejaculate volume, sperm concentration, total sperm count, total motility, progressive motility and percentage of normal morphology sperm). The calculation of the SDI was performed by dividing the total number of observed deformities by the total count of sperm. 
 Results: A noteworthy distinction was observed in the SDI values between the two groups, with a statistically significant difference (p0.05).
 Conclusion: SDI, one of the semen parameters, was found to be significantly different in both groups. Further comprehensive studies are warranted to thoroughly investigate the impact of COVID-19 on semen parameters.