Usefulness of testicular fine needle aspiration cytology in cases of infertility.

ABSTRACT

Testicular fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is an important investigation in management of male infertility, especially to differentiate between obstructive and non obstructive causes of azoospermia. It is less invasive and associated with no or minimal complications. Nowadays when assisted fertilization techniques are being practiced, fibrosis after biopsy may further hamper in sperm extraction for intra cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). Present study describes a detailed analysis of aspiration cytology in 546 cases and also compared 48 cases of testicular biopsies with cytology. The cytological diagnoses correlated well with histological diagnoses and helped in management of infertility. FNAC can help in management of surgical and medical causes of infertility and can save unnecessary expensive investigations in cases of sertoli cell only syndrome and atrophic patterns. FNAC in combination with semen analysis and serum follicle stimulating hormone levels are of great help in management of male infertility.