In Vitro Fertilization With Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection Compensates for Fair to Poor Fertility Potential as Predicted by the Sperm Chromatin Structure Assay

Abstract

The Sperm Chromatin Structure Assay (SCSA) determines the percentage of sperm with high levels of DNA fragmentation. Clinical studies have suggested that a DNA fragmentation index (DFI) above 27-30% results in a fair to poor fertility potential; men with an elevated DFI are at risk for taking longer to establish a natural pregnancy, requiring more routine IVF cycles to establish a pregnancy, a higher chance of spontaneous miscarriages or no pregnancy (Larson 2000; Evenson 2002). It has been suggested that the DFI for ICSI derived pregnancies is actually higher than 27-30%.