Clinical Pregnancy Is Not Associated with Sperm Quality in POSEIDON Group 1 and 2 Patients

Abstract

This study is aimed at establishing the effects of varying sperm quality on IVF-ICSI/IMSI outcomes in unexpected poor ovarian responder subjects of POSEIDON groups 1 and 2. In the present study, 1,263 couples with female partners who fulfilled the POSEIDON group 1 and 2 criteria were recruited. All couples underwent ICSI or IMSI at Morula IVF Jakarta Clinic, Indonesia. Patients were subsequently classified into six groups, according to semen conditions of the respective male partners: (1) normozoospermic, (2) teratozoospermia, (3) oligoasthenoteratozoospermia (OAT), (4) asthenozoospermia, (5) severe OAT, and (6) cryptozoospermia. Laboratory and clinical outcomes of the IVF-ICSI/IMSI program were then evaluated. Early and late embryonic development parameters including the number of fertilization, cleavage and blastocyst stages, and blastocyst quality differed significantly among the different sperm quality groups ( $p<0.05$ ). No difference was observed in the number of embryo transfers and clinical pregnancy among the studied groups ( $p>0.05$ ). Our study has demonstrated the effect of sperm quality on embryo development at the early and later stages; however, the clinical pregnancy was not impaired in the unexpected poor responders of POSEIDON groups 1 and 2.