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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Myrna Manners, Kathleen Robinson, Peggy Sung
Phone: (212) 821-0560
E-mail: pes2001@mail.med.cornell.edu
REDEFINING MALE INFERTILITY
New York-Cornell Physicians Report Healthy Deliveries in Partners of Men with a Severe Genetic Disorder
 New York, NY (March 16, 1998) -- For the first
time, couples with a male partner who has been diagnosed with Klinefelter's Syndrome,
a genetic disorder that causes sterility in men, have achieved healthy pregnancies and deliveries.
Physicians from The Center for Reproductive Medicine and Infertility and the Department of Urology
at The New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center reported their results in the February 26th issue
of The New England Journal of Medicine.
"Genetic abnormalities are major causes of
azoospermia, an absence of sperm in the semen," said Dr. Zev Rosenwaks, senior author
and Director of the Center. "These patients presented a particularly difficult challenge
for our IVF team since they were diagnosed with the most complete form of Klinefelter's
and did not have sperm in their ejaculate."
In both reported cases, testicular
biopsies, where sperm is extracted from the testes, were used to obtain sufficient
sperm for in vitro fertilization using Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI),
where a single sperm is injected directly into the egg. This resulted in successful
pregnancies, and ultimately, the delivery of three healthy infants.
Klinefelter's Syndrome is a genetic disorder
characterized by an extra X chromosome which affects nearly 1 in 500 men.
"Our study suggests that ICSI,
along with IVF, is an effective treatment for the most complicated cases
of male-factor infertility. As long as we can locate some sperm cells,
we should be able to continue to expand the application of ICSI,"
said Dr. Gianpiero Palermo, lead author and Associate Professor of
Embryology in Obstetrics and Gynecology.
"ICSI continues to redefine the
limits of male sterility. As we continue to make advancements with this technique,
it becomes possible for any man who has even a single or few sperm in the testes to
achieve fertilization and produce healthy offspring," said Dr. Rosenwaks.
New York-Cornell's
Center for Reproductive Medicine
and Infertility, one of the largest infertility centers worldwide, treats over 2,000
patients annually, and has achieved a better than 40 percent delivery rate with the
application of ICSI. In female partners who are younger than 35 years of age,
ICSI can achieve a delivery rate exceeding 50 percent per egg retrieval.
© 1999 New York Presbyterian Hospital
Weill Medical College of Cornell University
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