Implementation of Psychological Interview and Testing in a Large Sperm Bank

Introduction: Historically, sperm donor applicants have been medically but not psychologically evaluated by mental health professionals (MHPs). As social norms and legislation shift toward non-anonymous donation, psychological assessments can provide opportunities to exclude unqualified donors and allow donors to consider the long-term implications of donating. Objective: To determine the effectiveness of psychological screening in identifying unqualified sperm donors, and to evaluate psychological reasons for disqualification through clinical interview and testing. Methods: A retrospective chart review of 229 potential donors who passed initial qualification at a major sperm bank from February 2017 to February 2018. All potential donors were evaluated by MPHs using clinical interview and Personality Assessment Inventory. Descriptive statistics were used for analysis. Results: Following assessments and interviews, 33 (14.4%) of the 229 applicants were disqualified and 32 (13.9%) additional candidates self-selected out of the program. Of the 33 disqualified applicants, 66.7% had abnormal psychological testing and 39.4% had abnormal clinical interviews. Additional reasons for disqualification included inability to manage longterm demands as a donor, family history of psychopathology, and suspected substance use. Discussion: Implementation of psychological evaluations in the donor application process at one major sperm bank led a number of donors to be disqualified, primarily due to abnormal psychological testing or clinical interviews. Others withdrew from the donation process after discussing the complexities of becoming a sperm donor with MHPs. As anonymity in gamete donation becomes increasingly improbable, it is critical for candidate donors to better understand the process, and to manage possible contact with donor-conceived persons

A novel diagnostic method targeting genomic instability in intracystic tumors of the breast

Background: Even after needle biopsy, the preoperative differential diagnoses of intracystic tumors of the breast are challenging because of their nonspecific radiological characteristics and subtle cytological and histological appearance. The aim of this study is to investigate a novel diagnostic method, targeting genomic instability (GIN) in intracystic tumors of the breast, using tumor DNA from samples obtained by fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB). Methods: Thirteen consecutive intracystic tumors of the breast, including five cancers and eight benign tumors, were studied. Three FNAB passages per tumor were used for array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) analysis to quantify GIN in each tumor. Tumor DNA from the main tumor, taken from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) blocks corresponding to FNAB samples, was also analyzed to compare cytogenetic profiles between these sample types. Results: After three FNAB passages, an average of 7.09 μg (0.24?25.0 μg) of DNA was obtained. The quality of the DNA and the aCGH data was excellent, as judged by the mean derivative log ratio spread (DLRSpread) of 0.22 (0.15?0.29). The cytogenetic profiles of paired FNAB and main tumor FFPE samples were highly similar, with an average concordance rate of 97.7 % (81.2?100 %). aCGH analysis from FNAB samples showed significantly more GIN in cancers than in benign tumors, with mean frequencies of aberrant chromosomal regions of 17.5 and 0.34 %, respectively (Wilcoxon’s rank sum test, P = 0.0016). Conclusions: Our novel diagnostic method, which targets GIN, can clearly distinguish cancers from benign tumors of breast intracystic lesions with minimal invasion, thereby avoiding the need for surgical excisional biopsy