ArticleFrontiers in endocrinology2021
Extensive Assessment of Underlying Etiological Factors in Primary Infertile Men Reduces the Proportion of Men With Idiopathic Infertility.
Article in Frontiers in endocrinology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 29 citations in OpenAlex.
- Anti-Müllerian hormone predicts positive sperm retrieval in men with idiopathic non-obstructive azoospermia-findings from a multi-centric cross-sectional study.Human reproduction (Oxford, England) · 2023Pooled it
- Efficacy and Safety of Coenzyme Q10 in Idiopathic Male Infertility: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Trials.The world journal of men's health · 2026Article
- Machine Learning Evaluation of Semen Analysis Could Reveal New Infertility-Related Markers: A Pilot Study.The world journal of men's health · 2026Article
- Age Disparity in Couples Seeking First Medical Help for Infertility Has Changed Over the Last Twenty Years: A Socio-Demographic Analysis.The world journal of men's health · 2026Article
- Localized Depletion of Seminal HDL-C Despite Preserved Systemic Lipid Profiles in Men with Impaired Semen Parameters: A Prospective Cross-Sectional Study.Biomolecules · 2026Article
- JUNO-coated beads as a functional assay to capture and characterize fertilization-competent human sperm.Human reproduction open · 2026Article
- The Link Between Oxidative Stress and Male Infertility in Lithuania: A Retrospective Study.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Article
- Current drawbacks and future perspectives in the diagnosis and treatment of male factor infertility, with a focus on FSH treatment: an expert opinion.Journal of endocrinological investigation · 2025Review
- Contemporary Diagnostic Work-Up for Male Infertility: Emphasizing Comprehensive Baseline Assessment.The world journal of men's health · 2025Review
- Association Between Zinc Levels and the Impact of Its Deficiency on Idiopathic Male Infertility: An Up-to-Date Review.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Specific types of male infertility are correlated with T cell exhaustion or senescence signatures.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Idiopathic male infertility - what are we missing?Arab journal of urology · 2025Article
- Beneficial effects of oral antioxidant supplementation on semen quality parameters, reproductive hormones, and sperm DNA integrity in men with idiopathic oligoasthenoteratozoospermia.Clinical and experimental reproductive medicine · 2024Article
- Low Birth Weight is Associated with Sperm DNA Fragmentation and Assisted Reproductive Technology Outcomes in Primary Infertile Men: Results of a Cross-Sectional Study.The world journal of men's health · 2024Article
- Combined evaluation of prolactin-induced peptide (PIP) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) as new sperm biomarkers of FSH treatment efficacy in normogonadotropic idiopathic infertile men.Journal of endocrinological investigation · 2024Article
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- The Synergetic Effect of EgyptianAntioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Objective: Up to 40% of infertile men remain without a recognized cause (i.e., idiopathic infertility). We aimed to identify, categorize, and report the supposed causes of male infertility in a cohort of white-European men presenting for primary couple's infertility, by using a thorough and extensive baseline diagnostic work-up. Material and Methods: Cross-sectional study of 1,174 primary infertile men who underwent a thorough diagnostic work-up including: detailed medical history, physical examination, hormonal assessment, genetic testing, semen analyses; semen and urine cultures; testis color Duplex US. Men without any identified causal factor were considered as idiopathic. Six different etiological categories were established, and their prevalence was estimated. Logistic regression models estimated the risk of missing causal identification. Results: A possible causal factor was identified in 928 (81%) men. Hypogonadism was the most frequent identified cause (37%), followed by varicocele (27%). Genetic abnormalities were found in 5% of patients. A causal factor was more easily identifiable for the more severe infertility cases, and azoospermic men were those less likely to be defined as idiopathic (OR and 95% CIs: 0.09; 0.04-0.20). Relative proportion of identified causes remained constant during the 10-year study period (p>0.43). Conclusions: Due to a more comprehensive and extensive diagnostic work-up, at least one underlying cause of male infertility factor in 4 out of 5 infertile men can be identified. Men with a less severe phenotype remain a clinical challenge in terms of establishing a possible etiologic factor. Further studies are needed to assess which subset of infertile men deserves a more extensive work-up.
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