학술논문

Controversy and Consensus on the Management of Elevated Sperm DNA Fragmentation in Male Infertility: A Global Survey, Current Guidelines, and Expert Recommendations
Document Type
article
Author
Ala’a FarkouhAshok AgarwalTaha Abo-Almagd Abdel-Meguid HamodaParviz KavoussiRamadan SalehArmand ZiniMohamed ArafaAhmed M. HarrazMurat GulVilvapathy Senguttuvan KarthikeyanDamayanthi DurairajanayagamAmarnath RambhatlaFlorence BoitrelleEric ChungPonco BirowoTuncay ToprakRamy Abou GhaydaRossella CannarellaNguyen Ho Vinh PhuocFotios DimitriadisGiorgio I. RussoIoannis SokolakisTaymour MostafaKonstantinos MakarounisImad ZiouziouShinnosuke KurodaMarion BendayanRaneen Sawaid KaiyalAndrian JapariMara SimopoulouLucia RoccoNicolas GarridoNazim GherabiKadir BocuOguzhan KahramanTan V. LeChristine WynsKelton TremellenSelcuk SarikayaSheena LewisDonald P. EvensonEdmund KoAldo E. CalogeroFahmi BaharMarlon MartinezAndrea CrafaQuang NguyenRafael F. AmbarGiovanni ColpiMustafa Emre BakirciogluRalf HenkelHussein KandilEge Can SerefogluAbdullah AlarbidAkira TsujimuraAlireza KheradmandChristina AnagnostopoulouAngelo MarinoAram AdamyanBirute ZilaitieneCevahir OzerEdoardo PescatoriParaskevi VogiatziGian Maria BusettoGiancarlo BalerciaHaitham ElbardisiHamed AkhavizadeganHesamoddin SajadiHisanori TaniguchiHyun Jun ParkIsrael Maldonado RosasMohamed Al-MarhoonMohammad Ali Sadighi GilaniNaif AlhathalGermar-Michael PinggeraPriyank KothariNasser MogharabianSava MicicSheryl HomaSara DarbandiTran Quang Tien LongWael ZohdyWidi AtmokoMarjan SabbaghianWael IbrahimRyan P. SmithChristopher Chee Kong HoJean de la RosetteAhmed I. El-SakkaMirko PretoCătălina Zenoaga-BarbăroșieSaad Mohammed AbumelhaAykut BaserKaan AydosLiliana Ramirez-DominguezVijay KumarTeng Aik OngTiago Cesar MierzwaRicky AdriansjahSaleem A. BanihaniKasonde BowaShinichiro FukuharaMarcelo Rodriguez PeñaMohamad MoussaUmut Çağın AriChak-Lam ChoNicholas N. TadrosMuhammet Rasit UgurEdouard AmarMarco FalconeFrederic Romain SanterArif KalkanliKeshab Kumar KarnaKareim KhalafallaRanjit B. VishwakarmaFederica FinocchiCarlo GiulioniErman CeyhanGökhan ÇekerChadi YazbeckOsvaldo RajmilMehmet YilmazBaris AltayTrenton L. BarrettKay Seong NgooShubhadeep RoychoudhuryGianmaria SalvioHaocheng LinAtes KadiogluMassimiliano TimpanoTomer Avidor-ReissLukman HakimPuneet SindhwaniGiorgio FrancoRajender SinghFilippo GiaconeMikhail RuzaevRaghavender KosgiNikolaos SofikitisAyad PalaniGokhan CalikDeniz KulaksızDavor JezekManaf Al HashmiPanagiotis DrakopoulosHuda OmranSofia LeonardiCiler Celik-OzenciNur Dokuzeylül GüngörJonathan RamsayToshiyasu AmanoEmrullah SogutdelenGede Wirya Kusuma DuarsaKoji ChibaSunil JindalMissy SaviraLuca BoeriEdson BorgesDeepak GupteFatih GokalpGuadalupe Hernández HebrardSuks MinhasRupin Shah
Source
The World Journal of Men's Health, Vol 41, Iss 4, Pp 809-847 (2023)
Subject
delphi method
disease management
dna fragmentation
male infertility
practice guideline
survey
Medicine
Diseases of the genitourinary system. Urology
RC870-923
Language
English
ISSN
2287-4208
2287-4690
Abstract
Purpose: Sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF) has been associated with male infertility and poor outcomes of assisted reproductive technology (ART). The purpose of this study was to investigate global practices related to the management of elevated SDF in infertile men, summarize the relevant professional society recommendations, and provide expert recommendations for managing this condition. Materials and Methods: An online global survey on clinical practices related to SDF was disseminated to reproductive clinicians, according to the CHERRIES checklist criteria. Management protocols for various conditions associated with SDF were captured and compared to the relevant recommendations in professional society guidelines and the appropriate available evidence. Expert recommendations and consensus on the management of infertile men with elevated SDF were then formulated and adapted using the Delphi method.Results: A total of 436 experts from 55 different countries submitted responses. As an initial approach, 79.1% of reproductive experts recommend lifestyle modifications for infertile men with elevated SDF, and 76.9% prescribe empiric antioxidants. Regarding antioxidant duration, 39.3% recommend 4–6 months and 38.1% recommend 3 months. For men with unexplained or idiopathic infertility, and couples experiencing recurrent miscarriages associated with elevated SDF, most respondents refer to ART 6 months after failure of conservative and empiric medical management. Infertile men with clinical varicocele, normal conventional semen parameters, and elevated SDF are offered varicocele repair immediately after diagnosis by 31.4%, and after failure of antioxidants and conservative measures by 40.9%. Sperm selection techniques and testicular sperm extraction are also management options for couples undergoing ART. For most questions, heterogenous practices were demonstrated. Conclusions: This paper presents the results of a large global survey on the management of infertile men with elevated SDF and reveals a lack of consensus among clinicians. Furthermore, it demonstrates the scarcity of professional society guidelines in this regard and attempts to highlight the relevant evidence. Expert recommendations are proposed to help guide clinicians.