RESUMEN
PURPOSE: The azoospermia-factor region of the Y-chromosome is essential for spermatogenesis in humans. In the literature, a wide range is given for the frequency of microdeletions in this region. The purpose of this study was to evaluate our own population of patients. METHODS: During a two-year period at Vienna Medical School, all male patients (n = 383) seeking assisted reproduction were screened for microdeletions. Thirty-three men had azoospermia and 154 severe oligozoospermia. Genomic DNA was prepared from peripheral lymphocytes and polymerase chain reaction analysis of the azoospermia-factor region was performed using the Promega kit. RESULTS: No case tested positive for azoospermia-factor microdeletions. In all cases amplification of 18 non-polymorphic sequence tagged sites was obtained. CONCLUSIONS: Y-chromosome microdeletions do not seem to be an important factor for male infertility in our patients. This suggests that screening should be restricted to men with azoospermia or severe oligozoospermia only.