The husband should avoid
ejaculation for a period of 2 to 5 days prior to his scheduled Semen
Analysis. He will be admitted into a private room in the clinic where
he should collect a semen specimen by masturbation into a sterile
container. Alternatively, he may pick up the sterile container from our
office and collect the specimen at home. He must bring it to the lab
within one hour of collection. He will also fill out a short
information form for the lab.
Description of
the Semen Analysis
A number of different
variables are determined in a semen analysis. The following is a short
description of each of these variables.
Liquefaction
time:
The time it takes the semen
to liquefy or become liquid-like. Following intercourse, the semen must
liquefy quickly to allow the sperm to swim out of the acidity of the
vagina and enter the cervix. A liquefaction time of 30 minutes or less
is normal.
Volume:
A volume ranging between 2 to 5 milliliters (approximately 1/2 to 1
teaspoon) is normal.
Concentration:
Sperm concentration is a measure of the number of sperm per milliliter
of semen. Normal semen has at least 20 million sperm in each
milliliter.
Motility:
Motility is the sperm's forward or progressive swimming movement. In a
normal semen specimen, more than half of the sperm are progressively
motile. The sperm's swimming motion helps to propel it up through the
cervical canal and into the uterus and fallopian tubes and may be
necessary for egg penetration during fertilization.
Morphology:
This is a description of the shape or form of the sperm. The morphology
test we do is called “strict morphology”, which evaluates many different
aspects of sperm form. Since the morphology criteria are so strict, a
normal semen sample will have just 14 or more sperm out of 100 sperm
(14%) with normal forms. However, if 5 to 14 out of 100 have normal
forms, this is still considered a good prognosis for pregnancy. The
presence of morphologically abnormal sperm in a semen specimen probably
does not increase the risk of birth defects since most specialists
believe that abnormal sperm will not fertilize an egg. However, if the
percentage of morphologically normal sperm is too small, this will
decrease the number of potentially fertile sperm in the semen specimen.
Agglutination:
The presence of agglutination, or sticking together, of the sperm may
indicate the presence of antisperm antibodies. The Immunobead Test
determines if sperm antibodies are present and may be requested by your
doctor if agglutination is detected.
Other cells:
The presence of round cells
in the ejaculate, such as white blood cells and immature sperm cells, is
examined. If more than 2 million round cells per milliliter are
detected, it may indicate an infection or inflammation.
If you have any questions about the
Semen Analysis or any other tests, we would be happy to talk with you.
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