CORRELATION OF THE SPERM PENETRATION ASSAY (SPA) AND MISCARRIAGE AFTER ASSISTED REPRODUCTION: THE POTENTIAL USE OF SPA AS A NEW CRITERION FOR PREIMPLANTATION GENETIC DIAGNOSIS

We analyzed 93 couples undergoing male screening with the Sperm Penetration Assay (SPA) before in vitro fertilization and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), to determine the accuracy of SPA for subsequent embryonic development, incidence of pregnancy and miscarriage rates (SAB). ICSI patients with the lowest SPA scores had significantly higher incidences of Sthan did patients in the other SPA groups. Sperm quality is higher with better SPA scores. Poor sperm quality has increased incidence of chromosomal abnormalities and is associated with early fetal loss. Couples with negative SPA are candidates for preimplantation genetic diagnosis, to reduce the incidence of SAB.