The objective of this study was to examine different clinical scenarios of in-vitro conception, viz. fertilization with conventional IVF, IVF with high insemination concentration (HIC) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), and assess on a sibling oocyte comparison the hypothesis that ICSI should be performed in all cases requiring in-vitro conception. ICSI with husband's spermatozoa had a higher incidence of fertilization as compared with IVF or IVF with HIC with donor spermatozoa (if previous failure of fertilization had occurred) for unexplained infertility. Similarly, ICSI with husband's spermatozoa had as high an incidence of fertilization as IVF with donor spermatozoa for patients with severe oligozoospermia, asthenozoospermia and/or teratozoospermia, even when the spermatozoa were not selected for their morphology. Two studies were performed to assess ICSI in potential oocyte-related failure of IVF, viz. when fertilization occurred in >50% of oocytes for one group of patients, and in <50% of oocytes in a second group. In both of these studies a significant proportion of the oocytes that failed to fertilize with conventional IVF eventually fertilized after ICSI. The overall conclusion was that ICSI as a first option offers a higher incidence of fertilization, maximizes the number of embryos and minimizes the risk of complete failure of fertilization for all cases requiring in-vitro conception. However, among other concerns, current knowledge of ICSI as an outcome procedure does not provide the confidence to use this process in all cases of IVF for the time being.

An ultrasonographic evaluation of the endometrium was performed in 158 patients undergoing ovarian stimulation for an in-vitro assisted reproduction programme. Endometrial thickness was evaluated in 109 patients undergoing in-vitro fertilization (IVF) for female indications and in 49 patients undergoing intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) for male indications. The maximal endometrial thickness was measured on the day of human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) administration by longitudinal scanning of the uterus on the frozen image using electronic callipers placed at the junction of the endometrium-myometrium interface at the level of the fundus. Cases in which the endometrial thickness was >/=10 mm were included in group A; cases in which the endometrial thickness was <10 mm were assigned to group B. The age of the patients, serum 17-beta oestradiol concentrations on the day of HCG administration, the length of follicular stimulation, the number of follicles, 17-beta oestradiol concentrations per follicle on the day of HCG and the number of embryos transferred were analysed in each case. When comparing endometrial thickness and results in IVF and ICSI patients, an endometrium <10 mm predominated in IVF patients (27.5%) compared with those undergoing ICSI (16.7%) (P = 0.05); conversely an endometrium >=10 mm was more frequent in ICSI than in IVF patients. The incidence of pregnancy was higher in IVF group A patients (32/79; 41%) than in IVF group B patients (5/30; 17%) (P = 0.03), whereas no significant difference was found between ICSI group A (13/42; 31%) and ICSI group B (3/7; 43%) patients. Thus, a higher percentage of IVF patients had thin endometrium when compared with ICSI patients; thin endometrium was a prognostic indicator of pregnancy only in the case of a female indication for infertility (IVF). A thin endometrium in cases of female infertility may reflect a previous or present uterine pathology, whereas in indications of male infertility (i.e. cases using ICSI), in the absence of any associated uterine pathology, the presence of a thin endometrium is not predictive.

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Human spermatids from ejaculate and testicular tissue have been utilized for evaluating human fertilization by intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and, where possible, compared with spermatozoa utilizing sibling oocytes. Round and elongated spermatids obtained from ejaculates were either prepared through Percoll gradients or isolated and washed individually using subzonal insemination needles (SUZI; 10-14 microm internal diameter). Seminiferous tubules obtained after biopsy were placed into HEPES-buffered Earle's medium and dissected using 21-gauge needles. Spermatogenic cells and spermatozoa were isolated and washed individually using SUZI needles. Spermatozoa were subsequently injected into the ooplasm using 5 microm (internal diameter) ICSI needles, whereas 8-9 microm (internal diameter) needles were used for spermatid injection. Only metaphase II oocytes (n = 207) were injected: 64 with round spermatids, 92 with elongated spermatids and 51 with spermatozoa; the fertilization rate was 30, 24 and 67% respectively. There was a significant (P < 0.001) increase in the fertilization rate using spermatozoa compared with spermatids. The fertilization rate was not different between round and elongated spermatids, although the fertilization rates for round and elongated spermatids in the ejaculate were 33 and 18% respectively, compared with 22 and 38% respectively when testicular spermatids were utilized. In three patients sibling oocytes were used to compare round and elongated spermatids found in the ejaculate with spermatozoa extracted from seminiferous tubules. The fertilization rate was 24% for spermatids and 79% for testicular spermatozoa. This result suggests that, should only spermatids be available in the ejaculate, a testicular biopsy in the hope of obtaining testicular spermatozoa would be worth while.