Male infertility

Male infertility can be the cause of 40 percent of all infertility problems.
It can be due to impotence or to defects in the male's sperm specifically their concentration, shape, motility (ability to swim), and ability to penetrate the ovum. An infertile male may have too few sperm (a sperm count of less than 20 million per milliliter is usually inadequate for fertilization), or he may have too high a proportion of abnormal or defective sperms. Abnormal sources of heat or constriction can raise the temperature of the scrotum and thus damage sperm quality.

Male infertility may also be caused by obstructions in or an absence of the ducts (usually the epididymis) through which the sperm cells must pass on their trip from the testicles to the urethra during ejaculation.

The main causes of male infertility are:

Deficiencies of sperm production.

Deficiencies in maturation of sperms.

Mumps, with destruction of the testes.

Formation of antibodies to sperm by the male or the female.

The most important tests of male infertility are examination of the semen and a specimen of the tissue of the testes. Evaluation also includes chromatin analysis and observation of thyroid, adrenal, and pituitary function.