The pregnancy rate by intrauterine insemination (iui) in male factor infertility with sperm count less than three million sperm per milliliter of seminal fluid

Intrauterine insemination is one of the options for couples where the man has low sperm count (A.J. Goverde 2000). It is generally suggested in case of very mild oligospermia because this treatment requires a certain number of sperms to help in the process of fertilization which would not be possible in cases of severe oligospermia (A.J. Goverde 2000, K. Gezginç 2008). It is a simple, cost-effective technique that has usually good outcomes provided the female does not have any infertility issues resulting in a monthly pregnancy rate of 17.8. But the sample should contain at least 3-5 million motile sperms after sperm processing (The European IVF-monitoring programme 2006). For IUI a semen sample is needed, then it is washed, weak inactive sperms are removed, and the sperm cells are directly inserted into the uterus through a catheter that is inserted through the cervix. The reason for this is to put more sperms closer to the egg, so the distance the sperms need to travel is reduced and they have to make a short journey from the uterus to the fallopian tube. Our study evaluate the pregnancy rate with IUI procedure in 50 couples with male factor infertility and sperm count less than 3 million per milliliter of semen. Fifty couples complaining from more than one year of primary infertility due to male factor with sever oligospermia with sperm count less than 3million/milliliter of semen shifted to IUI for assisted pregnancy in private infertility hospital in Baghdad. Those 50 couples had multiple factors of male infertility. Twelve patients had a history of varicocellectomy with poor response to surgery, the other 38 patients had idiopathic oligospermia in which clinical examination and hormonal assay was normal. 7 couples (14%) get a positive pregnancy test by serum at day 30 of cycle by serum, and 3 couples (6%) couples get gestational sac at trans vaginal ultrasound at fifth week from last menstrual period. It was concluded that pregnancy rate is significantly lower in IUI procedure in male factor infertility with sperm count less than 3 million/ml of the sperm.