ICSI (Intracytoplasmatic Sperm Injection) is a procedure used in cases of sperm problems like a low sperm count or where the morphology and/or motility of sperm is not normal. It consists of introducing a spermatozoon, chosen by the biologist for its motility and morphology, into the egg with a very small needle The woman undergoes an IVF cycle and egg retrieval is performed but instead of performing conventional IVF (putting a drop of sperm on each egg) the egg is microinjected. Afterwards, the process of embryo development is the same in the lab and the embryo transfer is the same as in conventional IVF.The results of ICSI have caused a dramatic increase in pregnancy rates in subfertile men.
Thousands of children conceived by ICSI have been followed up and the technique has been proven safe. Some studies report that in some types of infertility with genetic-related causes, a slight increase in anomalies has been reported in the offspring. In other studies no difference has been found.
