Infertility Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Infertility, including details on male and female infertility, treatment, causes, pregnancy.

Paracentric inversion of chromosome 7(q22-31) associated with nonobstructive azoospermia.

Ichioka K, Yoshimura K, Honda T, Takahashi A, Terai A

Department of Urology, Kurashiki Central Hospital, Okayama, Japan. ki7528@kchnet.or.jp

OBJECTIVE: To examine an unusual paracentric inversion of chromosome 7 found in an azoospermic man. DESIGN: Case report. SETTING: Infertility clinic at a private hospital. PATIENT(S): An azoospermic but otherwise apparently healthy man. INTERVENTION(S): Karyotyping with peripheral blood lymphocytes, microdissection testicular sperm extraction (TESE), and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Sperm count and GBG banding. RESULTS: A karyogram revealed paracentric inversion of chromosome 7 with breakpoints at 7q22 and 7q31. Testicular histopathology confirmed the Sertoli cell-only syndrome. Successful pregnancy and delivery were achieved with microdissection TESE and ICSI. CONCLUSION(S): Paracentric inversion of chromosome 7(q22-31) associated with nonobstructive azoospermia is rare. Chromosome 7q22-31 may be responsible for impaired spermatogenesis.

Published 11 February 2005 in Fertil Steril, 83(2): 455-6.
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