Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37763130›Full record

ArticleJournal of personalized medicine2023

Evaluating the Predictive Value of Diagnostic Testicular Biopsy for Sperm Retrieval Outcomes in Men with Non-Obstructive Azoospermia.

Aris Kaltsas, Eleftheria Markou, Athanasios Zachariou, Fotios Dimitriadis, Evangelos N Symeonidis, Athanasios Zikopoulos, Charalampos Mamoulakis, Dung Mai Ba Tien, Atsushi Takenaka, Nikolaos Sofikitis

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of personalized medicine, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
16citing papers in PubMed
4.6field-weighted citation impact, top 5% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

16 citing papers in PubMed, 17 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.

Aris KaltsasDepartment of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece.ORCID 0000-0003-4651-312X
Eleftheria MarkouDepartment of Microbiology, University Hospital of Ioannina, 45500 Ioannina, Greece.
Athanasios ZachariouDepartment of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece.ORCID 0000-0002-5287-4450
Fotios DimitriadisDepartment of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece.ORCID 0000-0003-1198-9144
Evangelos N SymeonidisDepartment of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece.ORCID 0000-0002-6360-0762
Athanasios ZikopoulosDepartment of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece.
Charalampos MamoulakisDepartment of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Crete, 70013 Heraklion, Greece.ORCID 0000-0002-8662-1275
Dung Mai Ba TienDepartment of Andrology, Binh Dan Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City 70000, Vietnam.ORCID 0000-0001-8605-2968
Atsushi TakenakaDivision of Urology, Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Tottori University, Yonago 683-8503, Japan.
Nikolaos SofikitisDepartment of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece.
University of Ioannina · GRAristotle University of Thessaloniki · GRTottori University · JPUniversity Hospital of Ioannina · GRUniversity of Crete · GR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundNon-obstructive azoospermia (NOA) presents a challenge in male infertility management. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of diagnostic testicular biopsy (DTB) in predicting sperm retrieval success via therapeutic testicular biopsy (TTB) and to understand the role of systemic inflammation in microdissection testicular sperm extraction (mTESE) outcomes.

methodsA retrospective analysis was conducted on 50 NOA males who underwent mTESE at the University of Ioannina's Department of Urology from January 2017 to December 2019. All participants underwent thorough medical evaluations, including semen analyses and endocrinological assessments.

resultsDTB did not detect spermatozoa in half of the patients who later showed positive sperm findings in TTB. Preoperative variables, such as age, plasma levels of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), total testosterone (TT), prolactin (PRL), estradiol (E2), and inflammation biomarkers (neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), monocyte-eosinophil ratio (MER)), were not consistently predictive of sperm retrieval success. Notably, TTB-negative patients had elevated NLR and PLR values, suggesting a possible link between systemic inflammation and reduced sperm retrieval during mTESE.

conclusionsThe findings question the necessity of an initial DTB, which might provide misleading results. A negative DTB should not deter further TTB or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) attempts. The study emphasizes the need for further research to refine diagnostic approaches and deepen the understanding of factors influencing sperm retrieval in NOA patients, ultimately enhancing their prospects of biological parenthood.

Indexed as

diagnostic testicular biopsymicrodissection testicular sperm extractionnon-obstructive azoospermiasperm retrievaltherapeutic testicular biopsy

Identifiers

PMID37763130
PMCPMC10532560
OpenAlexW4386496254

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.