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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · J Lab Physicians 2021; 13(03): 208-213
DOI: 10.1055/s-0041-1730846
Original Article

Papanicolaou-Stained Cytosmear Preparations in the Evaluation of Leucocytospermia: A Tertiary Centre Experience and Assessment of Utility

Vandana Puri
1   Department of Pathology, Lady Hardinge Medical College, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Marg, New Delhi, India
,
Kavita Gaur
1   Department of Pathology, Lady Hardinge Medical College, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Marg, New Delhi, India
,
Sunaina Hooda
1   Department of Pathology, Lady Hardinge Medical College, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Marg, New Delhi, India
,
Shailaja Shukla
1   Department of Pathology, Lady Hardinge Medical College, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Marg, New Delhi, India
,
Sunita Sharma
1   Department of Pathology, Lady Hardinge Medical College, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Marg, New Delhi, India
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Abstract

Objectives Leucocytospermia is a rare cause of infertility with a variable incidence in infertile men. In many andrology laboratories, semen analysis is primarily centered on analyzing basic parameters (sperm count, motility, and viability). We examined the role of cytomorphological analysis on Papanicolaou (PAP)-stained smears in the work up of male infertility, with special reference to leukocytospermia and assessed the morphological features of sperms in these cases.

Materials and Methods All cases signed out as “leukocytospermia” between November 2017 and January 2018 were evaluated. Cases showing pus cells (≥ 1/5hpf) on cytosmear evaluation were also analyzed. Parameters obtained on modified Neubauer’s chamber, wet mount preparations, and autoanalyzer SQA-IIC-P (Medical Electronic Systems, Israel) were tabulated. PAP-stained smears were examined to assess morphological defects and other findings, if any.

Results Out of 348 semen samples, 6 (1.72%) were diagnosed as leukocytospermia, all displaying pus cells on cytomorphological evaluation. Five cases having white blood cells < 1 × 10 9/L were analyzed, which displayed the presence of pus cells (≥ 1/5 hpf) on cytosmear preparations (1.43%). Nine cases (81.8%) showed reduced motile sperm concentration, functional sperm concentration, and sperm motility index. Morphological evaluation of the PAP-stained smears showed mid-piece defects in 18.1% cases.

Conclusion Diligent cytomorphological evaluation of semen is essential to diagnose leukocytospermia, assess morphological defects, and serve as a quality control measure.

Keywords

leucocytospermia - infertility - reactive oxygen species - semen


Publication History

Article published online:
26 June 2021

© 2021. The Indian Association of Laboratory Physicians. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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