While there’s plenty we don’t know, we have learned a lot about male fertility and reproduction over the past few decades. One of the most exciting areas of research and advancement has been in the management of male fertility concerns. Nonobstructive azoospermia was at one time considered difficult or impossible to treat, yet now, many men with no detectable sperm in their semen have become fathers. Today, there are several sperm extraction techniques available to these men, but most are invasive. As such, there has been a need for minimally invasive diagnostics to see whether sperm can be found in the testes.
Category: Azoospermia
Comparing Micro-TESE and FNA Mapping / Testicular Mapping
Non-obstructive Azoospermia is a concerning condition for any man. There are physical implications, of course, in that there’s no sperm in the semen, and the man cannot become a biological father. However, psychological considerations can also make azoospermia defeating. Many men find it very difficult to learn that the only option is relatively invasive microscopic surgery called MicroTESE which carries a 50% or less chance of finding sperm.
For most men, an alternative to the costly and invasive MicroTESE is a minimally invasive procedure known as testicular mapping (fine needle aspiration mapping). Unfortunately, there are very few reproductive urologists (male fertility specialists) around the United States, including Dr. Kapadia, who perform testicular mapping for azoospermia. As such, Dr. Kapadia sees patients from all over the US who are interested in this procedure.
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