Twelve-year follow-up study of pregnancy rates in 1291 couples with idiopathically impathically impaired male fertility.

A twelve-year follow-up study covering 1291 infertile couples in whom the male suffered from idiopathic oligoteratoasthenospermia, reveals that spontaneous pregnancy rates are directly dependent on the mean density of motile spermatozoa per milliliter of ejaculate. The results are direct evidence for the fact that no lower threshold density exists below which pregnancy is impossible. Conversely, the duration of infertility provides an important prognostic element in a given couple's fertility work-up. Full diagnostic work-up of females married to oligospermic males is advocated. Any andrological therapy in O.T.A.-patients should yield results that are significantly better than spontaneous conception rates. Time itself is considered not only a diagnostic and prognostic tool, but an effective and cheap therapeutic.