The Comparative Study of the Human Sperm Hypoosmotic Swelling Test and Routine Semen Analysis

Abstract

To ascertain the value of the hypoosmotic swelling (HOS) test in pre dicting male fertility, semen samples from 213 males of infertile couples were as sessed by the HOS test and the results correlated with routine semen analysis. The HOS test for the 138 normal semen samples was significantly higher than for the 75 abnormal semen samples (p<0.001). A strong positive correlation was observed between sperm swelling and sperm motility (r=0.83, p<0.0001), and sperm viability (r=0.82, p<0.0001). Lower correlation was obtained between sperm swelling and sperm concentration (r=0.63, p<0.0001), and total count (r=0.52, p<0.0001). The cut off value of the HOS test that showed the best sensitivity, specificity, and pre dictive values was 37%. The results indicate that the simple and inexpensive HOS test may be a useful addition to the standard semen analysis. (Thai J Obstet Gynaecol 1993;5:39-44.)