Ultrastructural studies in Morphological assessment of human spermatozoa

The fine morphology of the regional structure of ejaculated spermatozoa which was observed by light microscope, scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscope was the basis for the classification of various morphological characteristics. A quantitative analysis of the frequencies of these morphological characteristics in the fertile and suspected infertile populations was conducted. A discriminant analysis of these data revealed that 6 morphological characteristics out of 30 examined by light microscope, 9 out of 42 examined by scanning electron microscope and 8 out of 35 examined by transmission electron microscope were discriminatory. In addition, the discriminant analysis enabled obtaining a morphological score for each semen sample which was calculated from the weights of the different discriminatory characteristics for the 3 microscopic techniques. It was possible to separate the fertile from the infertile population using these morphological scores. The fertile man obtained positive scores while the suspected infertile men obtained negative scores. The practical use of the different morphological scores as diagnostic tools for male infertility clinics is discussed.