Rare: 'Catching' sperm for husband carrying both male and female chromosomes

Ê kíp thực hiện vi phẫu thuật micro TESE cho bệnh nhân N. - Ảnh: P.T. — The team performed micro TESE surgery for patient N. - Photo: PT

Married since 2021, the frequency of sexual intercourse is normal but Mr. N. and his wife still do not have children.

Mr. N. decided to go to Family General Hospital (Da Nang) for reproductive support.

Mr. N. unexpectedly discovered that he carried female chromosomes.

Initial examination and testing results showed that Mr. N.'s testicles were atrophied on both sides.

The patient had no sperm in the ejaculate sample and had chromosomal abnormalities.

Specialist Doctor I Ho Huy, head of the urology - andrology unit of Gia Dinh General Hospital, said that normally, men carry the chromosome set 46,XY. Women carry the chromosome set 46,XX.

However, patient N. has two cell lines. He has both male and female chromosomes, the female cell line is dominant (46,XX[42]/46,XY[8]).

This is a very rare chromosomal abnormality and is a cause of infertility.

The urology - andrology unit and the IVFMD reproductive support unit of this hospital coordinated to perform micro TESE surgery to find sperm for patient N..

His wife also underwent parallel oocyte retrieval to perform in vitro fertilization with her husband's sperm.

Initial surgery results showed that sperm was successfully found and combined with the wife's eggs to create 11 healthy embryos, preparing for the next embryo transfer step.

Nhiễm sắc thể đồ của bệnh nhân N. cho kết quả khảm hai dòng tế bào. Đây là dòng tế bào 46,XX - Ảnh: PT — The karyotype of patient N. shows a mosaic of two cell lines. This is the 46,XX cell line - Photo: PT

According to specialist doctor Doan Phuoc Hiep - urology - andrology unit of Gia Dinh Hospital, micro TESE is the most modern surgical technique today to search for sperm in testicular tissue under a high magnification microscope.

Compared with conventional techniques, this new technique helps to increase the probability of finding sperm and causes less damage to testicular parenchyma.

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