Types of pathospermia: oligozoospermia, asthenozoospermia, teratozospermia, azoospermia, aspermia, etc.

Oligozoospermia - a decrease in the volume of ejaculate less than 1.5 ml. Low-volume ejaculation can be the cause of infertility even with normozoospermia, because. sperm after intercourse is simply smeared across the vagina in a small amount and it is simply not enough to conceive naturally. The volume of ejaculate directly depends on the function of the prostate gland.

Hemospermia - the appearance of red blood cells in the ejaculate. When blood (erythrocytes) appears in the ejaculate, the sperm turns bright red, dark brown or pink. This conclusion may indicate, for example, the presence of chronic calculous prostatitis, an inflammatory process in the urogenital system, or the presence of prostate cancer. In any case, if this pathology is detected, it is urgent to consult an andrologist.

Sperm agglutination is the gluing of motile spermatozoa together with heads, tails or mixed (heads with tails). Normally, there should be no Sperm agglutination. The appearance of spermatozoa agglutination suggests the presence of an immune factor of infertility, and when it appears, it is necessary to perform a MAR test (but immunological infertility is possible even in the absence of agglutination, therefore it is recommended to include the MAR test in the analysis of the spermogram at the first visit of a patient with suspected infertile marriage).

Sperm aggregation is a chaotic accumulation of motile spermatozoa, in the form of lumps or strands, connected to cellular elements. Aggregation may appear during stagnant processes in the urogenital tract (for example: irregular sex life, etc.).

Mucus - absent in normal ejaculate. It can be found in inflammatory processes of the urethra, prostatitis, etc. Please note that before taking a spermogram, patients are advised to urinate, thus cleaning the urethra before collecting sperm.

Smell - semen has a characteristic odor that has been compared to the smell of chestnut flowers. The appearance of a putrid smell of semen may indicate the presence of purulent-inflammatory processes in the prostate, seminal vesicles, may indicate the presence of pathological microflora. A putrid odor can also appear during long-term storage of sperm.

Let's consider the normal structure of the spermatozoon and their importance in fertility. A normal spermatozoon consists of a head, neck and tail. The head of the spermatozoon - the nucleus - contains the genetic material - chromatin, consisting of DNA. As the spermatozoon matures, the chromatin thickens for successful transfer of genetic information during the fertilization of the egg. An increased content of spermatozoa with immature chromatin may be the cause of fertilization failure.

The acrosome is a cap on the head of the spermatozoon, which contains enzymes that dissolve the egg cell membrane. The absence or violation of the structure of the acrosome does not allow the sperm to penetrate the egg. The neck of the sperm contains the basal body and mitochondria. The basal body - centriole - together with the sperm nucleus during fertilization is transferred to the egg and is necessary for the normal division of the fertilized egg, with an anomaly of the basal body, the development of the embryo does not occur.

Mitochondria - provide energy for the normal movement of the sperm tail. Congenital morphological anomalies are treated only by ART methods, functional disorders are amenable to stimulating therapy, which is selected by an andrologist.

The movement of the tail of the sperm cell is provided by fibrillar structures of complex axoneme and periaxonemic structures that stretch from the neck to the tip of the tail and the anomalies of these structures lead to immobility of the spermatozoa.