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I Virant-Klun

Publications and source records attributed to I Virant-Klun.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Intracytoplasmic sperm injection by testicular sperm in patients with aspermia or azoospermia after cancer treatment.

The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the efficiency of testicular biopsy and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) in patients with aspermia or non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA) after cancer treatment. From 1996 to 2003, 30 men with a history of cancer, affected by aspermia or NOA and without sperm cryopreserved before cytotoxic treatment underwent testicular sperm extraction (TESE). In these men, clinical, hormonal and histological characteristics were compared; 13 underwent 39 TESE-ICSI cycles using frozen-thawed testicular spermatozoa (TESE-ICSI group). In the same period, 31 ICSI cycles were performed in 20 men with aspermia or NOA using ejaculated sperm frozen before cancer treatment (ejaculated sperm-ICSI group). Fertilization, blastocyst development, pregnancy and miscarriage rates were compared between the groups. Testicular volume, serum follicle-stimulating hormone level and Johnsen score indicated complete although reduced spermatogenesis in men with aspermia and abnormal spermatogenesis in men with NOA. After TESE, sperm retrieval was positive in 92% of men with aspermia and 58% of men with NOA. In TESE-ICSI patients with NOA a significantly lower proportion of embryos developed to the blastocyst stage than in patients with aspermia and in those after ICSI with frozen-thawed ejaculated sperm (23% vs. 43% and 47%, p = 0.03 and p < 0.01 respectively). In all groups the miscarriage rates were high; in patients with aspermia and NOA, characterized by increased age, the miscarriage rate tended to be higher in spite of similar female age and female indications of infertility. In patients affected by aspermia or NOA after cancer treatment and without sperm cryopreserved before treatment, TESE-ICSI using testicular sperm provide a chance to father a child.

Cell Separation↗
PubMed2003

Blastocyst formation--good indicator of clinical results after ICSI with testicular spermatozoa.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of blastocyst culture in patients with azoospermia. METHODS: In 98 cycles embryos were cultured for 2 days and in 128 cycles for 5 days to reach the blastocyst stage; a maximum of two of the most developed embryos were transferred in each group. RESULTS: There was a negative correlation between a high (>/=20 IU/l) male serum FSH and embryo development, manifested as embryos not reaching the morula stage on day 5 (r = 0.387; P < 0.05). After prolonged culture, 23% of embryos reached the blastocyst stage. The pregnancy rates per transfer, and the abortion rates were approximately the same in the day 2 group and the day 5 group (20 versus 20% and 19 versus 18% respectively). After blastocyst transfer, a high clinical pregnancy rate (55%) and a low abortion rate (6%) were achieved, whereas the transfer of arrested embryos provided a low pregnancy rate (2%) and a high abortion rate (100%). If only blastocysts had been transferred on day 5, the clinical pregnancy rate per started cycle would have been approximately the same in both groups (13 versus 16%). CONCLUSIONS: Blastocyst formation is a good indicator of clinical results after ICSI with testicular sperm.

Abortion, Spontaneous↗
PubMed2000

Intra- and inter-individual variability in human sperm concentration, motility and vitality assessment during a workshop involving ten laboratories.

The aim of the present study was to assess variability in the evaluation of human sperm concentration, motility and vitality. Technicians and biologists from 10 teams involved in multicentre studies on semen quality attended the same laboratory, each team using its own methods and equipment to analyse the same semen samples. Inter-individual variability was assessed from 17 fresh semen samples of varying quality. Intra-individual variability was assessed from pools of frozen samples for sperm concentration and motility and stained smears for vitality with three blind evaluations by sample and smear. The mean inter-individual coefficients of variation were 22.9, 21.8 and 17.5% for sperm concentration, motility and vitality respectively. There was no statistical difference among participants for sperm concentration assessment, but significant differences for both motility and vitality (both P: < 0.05). The mean intra-individual coefficients of variation were 15.8, 26.2 and 13.1% for sperm concentration, motility and vitality respectively, with marked differences between expert and novice participants: concentration 9.8% versus 28.0%; motility 22.8% versus 33.0%; and vitality 10.0% versus 19.3%. The present data confirm the need for external quality control schemes for diagnostic purposes, and indicate their utmost importance in multicentre studies on semen quality.

Cell Survival↗
PubMed2000

Semen granulocyte elastase: its relevance for the diagnosis and prognosis of silent genital tract inflammation.

Elastase-inhibitor complex was assessed by immunoassay in the seminal plasma of 312 men attending the outpatient infertility clinic. Using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, elastase at the cut-off value of > or =290 ng/ml was shown to be efficient (sensitivity 79.5%, specificity 74.4%) in the detection of genital tract inflammation as defined by leukocytospermia (>1x10(6) leukocytes/ml). The prevalence of increased elastase in 292 infertile men was significantly higher (34%) as compared with that (5%) observed in 20 fertile men (P: = 0.02). Moreover, high elastase concentration (> or =290 ng/ml) was observed in 66 of the 264 men (25%) without leukocytospermia. A significant positive correlation was found between elastase concentration and patient age (r = 0.202, P: < 0.0001) and the number of leukocytes (r = 0.330, P: < 0.0001). A negative correlation was found between elastase concentration and semen volume (r = -0.146, P: = 0.01) and the percentage of spermatozoa with single-stranded DNA (r = -0.194, P: = 0.024), but there was no correlation between elastase and sperm reactive oxygen species production. A higher seminal elastase concentration was significantly associated with tubal damage in female partners (P: < 0.001). After norfloxacine antibiotic therapy, decrease in elastase concentration was observed in 15 (25%) of the 60 treated patients. Tubal damage in the partner negatively affected the response to antibiotic therapy. In conclusion, granulocyte elastase is a reliable screening test for silent genital tract inflammation of the couple. The elastase-inhibitor complex may have a protective effect in reducing sperm DNA denaturation.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Fuzzy logic alternative for analysis in the biomedical sciences.

Fuzzy logic brings new possibilities into control, modeling, data analysis, diagnostics, decision making, and other working fields in biomedical sciences. This paper presents how fuzzy logic can be used as an alternative or supplement to statistics in biomedical analysis. It shows an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference computing in comparison with linear and curvilinear regression. The main goal of this presentation is to involve fuzzy logic in biomedical research. Thus, we carried out a mathematical treatment of the clinical sample, semen of infertile man, with the independent variable Concentration of spermatozoa and the dependent variable Number of spermatozoa by 230 observations.

Biometry↗
PubMed1999

Semen quality changes among 2343 healthy Slovenian men included in an IVF-ET programme from 1983 to 1996.

To determine whether semen quality in Slovenians has changed over 14 years (1983-96), we analysed retrospectively the semen of 2343 healthy men with a normal spermiogram, who were partners of women with tubal infertility included in the IVF-ET programme. Age at semen collection, duration of sexual abstinence, semen volume, sperm concentration, total sperm count, percentage of spermatozoa with progressive motility, and normal morphology were determined. Multiple regression analysis was used to assess the changes in sperm characteristics according to the year of semen collection, year of the man's birth and the duration of sexual abstinence. Semen volume, sperm concentration, sperm count and total sperm motility did not change between 1983 and 1996, whereas between 1988 and 1996 rapid progressive sperm motility decreased by 0.95% per year (p < 0.0001). Semen volume, sperm concentration, and sperm count increased with duration of sexual abstinence. After adjustment for the year of semen collection and duration of sexual abstinence, multiple regression analysis showed that sperm concentration decreased by 0.67% per each successive year of birth (p = 0.03). Thus the sperm concentration decreased from 87.6 x 10(6)/mL in men born in the 1940s to 77.3 x 10(6)/mL in those born between 1956 and 1960. After 1960, sperm concentration was found to increase. In 2343 healthy men, no decline in semen quality, except in rapid progressive motility, was observed in the study period. Lower sperm concentration was found among men born between 1950 and 1960. This could be related to worse socio-economic status, stress or negative environmental factors in this time period.

Adult↗