Clinical value of fine needle aspiration cytology and biopsy in the evaluation of male infertility... A comparative study of 60 infertile patients

Abstract

To compare the diagnostic value of cytological smears of fine needle aspirate with that of histological sections obtained by testicular biopsy in the evaluation of infertility, 60 patients of infertility with azoospermia and severe oligospermia (sperm counts of <5 million/ml) were undertaken for the study. A detailed history was taken and the duration and type of infertility whether primary or secondary was noted. A thorough general physical examination included the examination of the genitalia. Testicular samples were obtained by fine-needle aspiration using a 10 ml syringe and 21-gauze needle. The samples were fixed in 95% alcohol and stained with papanicoloau stain. A testicular biopsy was taken after exploring the same tract and these sections were stained with haematoxylin and eosin. The cytological smears and histological sections were examined separately and the results compared. The cytological smears were divided into four groups: normal, with all spermatogenic cells present, hypospermatogenesis; spermatogenic arrest and sertoli cell only syndrome. There was 95% correlation between the diagnosis on the cytological smears and histological sections. However, there was some discrepancy in hypospermatogenesis and maturation arrest groups, they being difficult to diagnose even on histology.