The effectiveness of intrauterine insemination in couples with sterility due to male infertility with and without a woman's hormone factor.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the efficacy of IUI on fecundity and baby-take-home rates in cases of infertility attributable to a male factor with and without a woman's hormone factor.

DESIGN

Retrospective analysis.

SETTING

Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics at the General Public Hospital, Horn, Austria.

PATIENT(S): Seventy-eight long-standing involuntarily childless couples.

INTERVENTION(S): After a follicular phase GnRH analog (buserelin) protocol with hMG stimulation of the woman and a Percoll gradient preparation and capacitation of the man's semen, an IUI was performed.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Fecundity and baby-take-home rates.

RESULT(S): One hundred nine inseminations were followed by 53 pregnancies (48.6%; 95% confidence intervals (CI) 38.9%-58.4%) and 38 deliveries (34.9%; 95% CI 26.0%-44.6%). Forty-nine children were born and 47 are alive (43.1%).

CONCLUSION(S): Intrauterine insemination combined with buserelin gonadotropin stimulation, Percoll semen preparation, and sperm capacitation is a feasible solution to the problem of sterility attributable to a male factor with and without a woman's hormone factor.