Does cryopreservation of testicular sperm affect ICSI outcomes in azoospermia ?

Objective: To evaluate the outcomes of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycles when using fresh versus frozen testicular testicular sperm extraction (TESE) samples in non obstructive and obstructive azoospermia in terms of fertilization, cleavage, embryo quality, implantation and clinical pregnancy rates.

Study Design: A total of one hundred and forty consecutive testicular sperm extraction ICSI cycles were performed at our centre between 2012 and 2018 involving infertile men with obstructive and non-obstructive azoospermia.  Fresh TESE samples were used in 56 consecutive ICSI cycles (group 1) and frozen-thawed TESE sperm samples were used in 84 ICSI cycles (group 2).