Sperm Aspiration
What is MESA?
Who is MESA suitable for?
What does MESA involve?
When is MESA carried out?
What is MESA?
MESA is a surgical sperm retrieval procedure used in fertility treatment for men who have no sperm in their ejaculate.
Who is MESA suitable for?
MESA is commonly used for men with obstructive azoospermia. These men have no sperm in their ejaculate because the tube through which the sperm pass during ejaculation, the vas deferens, is absent or blocked.
What does MESA involve?
Under the care of a consultant urologist, MESA is a minor theatre procedure carried out on an outpatient basis under local anaesthesia.
Sperm are retrieved from the epididymis. This is the area adjacent to the testes where sperm are stored between production and ejaculation. Sperm extracted in this way can be used to achieve fertilisation of eggs in the laboratory. However, because the numbers of motile sperm that are retrieved are low, it is usually necessary to combine MESA with ICSI.
When is MESA carried out?
In consultation with the urologist, the doctor may advise that MESA is carried out in advance of any fertility treatment to confirm that sperm can be identified. If suitable numbers of sperm are identified on this occasion, it may be possible to freeze the sperm and to thaw and use this sample for subsequent treatment. Otherwise, MESA can be carried out on the day of the egg retrieval and the fresh sample used for ICSI. Again, providing that there are suitable numbers of sperm present, the sample can often be frozen for use in future treatment cycles..