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Chapter 5 - Standard Semen Analysis: Morphology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 April 2021

By
Roelof Menkveld
Edited by
Ashok Agarwal ,
Ralf Henkel  and
Ahmad Majzoub
Ashok Agarwal
Affiliation:
The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH
Ralf Henkel
Affiliation:
University of the Western Cape, South Africa
Ahmad Majzoub
Affiliation:
Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha
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Summary

The evaluation of sperm morphology as a standard procedure to be included in routine semen analysis is under persistent pressure due to several factors relating inter alia to the changing definition and description for a morphological normal spermatozoon. In addition, the description of different methods for the morphology evaluation process [1], the different ways in which the results are reported by different laboratories [2], and the continued lowering of the cut-off, or lower reference value, in the consecutive World Health Organization (WHO) semen analysis manuals published between 1980 and 2010 changed. An additional factor in the demise of sperm morphology evaluation in the routine Andrology laboratory is the continuing trend of non-adherence in many laboratories to the guideline given in the WHO manual(s) [3].

Type
Chapter
Information
Manual of Sperm Function Testing in Human Assisted Reproduction , pp. 39 - 46
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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References

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