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| Azoospermia and its symptom Azoospermia is a disorder in which there is a complete absence of sperm in the semen. There are two types of Azoospermia: Obstructive and Non-obstructive. -- Obstructive Azoospermia -- A clear example of "intentional" Obstructed Azoospermia is a vasectomy. A vasectomy is a procedure in which the tube that carries the sperm from the testis to the penis (vas deferens) is surgically cut as an intended form of birth control. In this example the path of the sperm out of the body is prevented and therefore obstructed. Other than in this case, Obstructive Azoospermia is usually not desired yet the infertility mechanism is very similar to a vasectomy. Obstructed Azoospermic men usually have the ability to produce healthy and active sperm but an obstruction prevents it from traveling out of the body. The positive aspect of this is that healthy sperm are produced and can easily be removed from the epididymis (the small oblong body which is attached to the back of each testis) for use through Epididymal Sperm Aspiration. -- Non-obstructive Azoospermia -- Non-obstructive Azoospermia is the condition where the testis itself has a production ability disorder and therefore is unable to produce mature sperm. Even in this case pregnancy may still be possible. To accomplish this a small amount of tissue needs to be removed from the testis, which is then analyzed under a microscope to see if there are any testicular sperm contained within it. If found, these sperm are retrieved for Intra Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI). |