Semen cryopreservation, utilisation and reproductive outcome in men treated for Hodgkin's disease

Between 1978 and 1990, 122 men underwent semen analysis before starting sterilising chemotherapy for Hodgkin's disease. Eighty-one (66%) had semen quality within the normal range, 25 were oligospermic (<20×106 sperm per ml) and five were azoospermic (no sperm in the ejaculate). Semen from 115 men was cryopreserved and after a median follow-up time of 10.1 years, 33 men have utilised stored semen (actuarial rate 27%) and nine partners have become pregnant resulting in 11 live births and one termination for foetal malformation. Actuarial 10 year rates of destruction of semen before death or utilisation and death before utilisation are 19% and 13% respectively. This retrospective cohort study demonstrates that approximately one-quarter of men utilising cryopreserved semen after treatment for Hodgkin's disease obtain a live birth. The high non-utilisation rate is intriguing and warrants further investigation

Evaluation of commercially available radioimmunoassays for the determination of luteinizing hormone in serum and urine. Application for the detection of endogenous rise of luteinizing hormone in a in vitro fertilization program

Three commercially available RIA kits for serum and urinary LH were assessed for their usefulness to detect endogenous LH rise in patients receiving ovarian stimulation as part of an in vitro fertilization treatment for infertility. Prerequisites included a turn-around time of 5 hours for an assay of 100 tubes. The following parameters were evaluated: reproducibility of standard curve, sensitivity, precision profile, within- and between-assay precision, analytical drift, recovery and linearity. The Amerlex LH RIA kit was selected because of superior precision profiles, higher precision and better recovery tests