Ejaculated spermatozoa in patients with non-mosaic Klinefelter's syndrome.

BACKGROUND

Non-mosaic Klinefelter patients are generally azoospermic and there is no therapy to improve the spermatogenesis. Some patients have a few spermatozoa in their ejaculates, which can be used for intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), but only a few cases resulting in a successful birth have been reported.

METHODS

Out of 52 non-mosaic 47,XXY Klinefelter patients, four cases having spermatozoa in their ejaculates were retrospectively studied.

RESULTS

Intracytoplasmic sperm injection was performed in three cases using their ejaculates and resulted in one chemical abortion and one death in utero (8 weeks). Using testicular sperm, one patient had a healthy baby with a normal karyotype.

CONCLUSION

Some non-mosaic Klinefelter patients have ejaculated sperm that can result in a successful birth following ICSI. However, the birth rate is very low compared with the fertilization rate, suggesting increased risk of chromosomal abnormalities.