IVF Mail - failure of fertilisation after IVF

failure of fertilisation after IVF

By: Lucy Jenner, Care Nottingham, UK
05 March 2008


Question:
	Does anyone have experience of a failed IVF fertilisation following a period of illness and fever in the male partner? We had an egg recipient where the husband had been in bed with flu in the days leading up to the IVF. His sperm count on the day was normal and so we proceeded with treatment as planned. The second recipient had a good fertilisation result, but this recipient couple had no fert. Their history includes 9 previous miscarriages, and so we had no worries about the application of IVF. The sperm was active in the drops, and there were high numbers of active sperm bound to the zonas of all eggs. I would be grateful if others could share their experiences as we have never seen this effect before.

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Dr. Alex C Varghese said on 25 March 2008

"Recent studies shows a higher percentage of sperm DNA damage after bouts of fever (influenza)..Since sperm DNA damage could negatively affect fertilization, embryo development etc. one should try assessing sperm chromatin integrity by TUNEL, or Acridine orange based DNA tests..Moreover patients showing high DFI may benefit from a prior 3 month antioxidan ttherapy before the ICSI.

Characteristics of human sperm chromatin structure following an episode of influenza and high fever: a case study D. P. Evenson, L. K. Jost, M. Corzett and R. Balhorn
Journal of Andrology, Vol 21, Issue 5 739-746, The American Society of Andrology"

Dee Kini said on 10 March 2008

"Yes you can get failed fertilization after any recent illness in the male partner. You have not mentioned if you found any leucocytes in the semen. Even if these are eliminated by your sperm prep reactive oxygen species will interfere with fertilization. ICSI is advisable if there is a history of illness"