Low Kruger Morphology, what does it mean?

[jennifer399]

My husband just had his first semen analysis, he's 31, i'm 28.  He had good motility and semen count, 65% and 68million, but his morphology was really low.  WHO morphology was 18% and kruger morphology was 7%. . .he does have varicoceles (they are visible).  We have been trying to conceive for a year.  It seems like there is no real help for low morphology. . i've read that varicocele removal may help, but it's not really confirmed? Also, what does it mean if we were to get pregnant with these abnormally shaped sperm, what does that mean for the embryo/baby?  Does such a high percentage of abnormally shaped sperm mean that they are probably all similar- how can 7% percent be 'normal' out of so many abnormal sperm?
Thanks so much for any answers.

[kp1212]

I don't know much about sperm analysis, but one of the members ("LvnEmbryos") is an embryologist.  Ask her--she is a wonderful source of information!

Good Luck!

kp1212

[aniram]

My DH had his sperm analysis done and according to WHO parameters he has only 15% of good sperm. Is that really bad?

[bny807]

Thats great!!!it should be anything above 6% and apparently its very hard to get above 6% with kruger! so thats amazing!!!

[Suarez0928]

My huband had a sperm analysis done and his Krugers Morphology is 11%. Is that bad?

[IlliniQT]

Strict Kruger morphology is a hard test to pass.  There are people who get 1 or 2% so 7% is not bad.  In this type of morphology test they actually measure the sperm and it has to fit into a very narrow criteria, so a lot of sperm "fail" the test.  The fact of the matter is that sperm that are not morphologically "normal" will probably not make it to the egg in the first place.  If they have a "bent" neck or a problem with their tail they won't make it up there anyway.  Another issue is the acrosome which is the cause of a lot of abnormal morph, and if they have a bad acrosome then they won't have the proper acrosome reaction and won't make it into the egg at all so I wouldn't worry about any genetic problems.

I would not lose the faith as the gradient the sperm is run through before IUI or IVF tends to improve morphology in the sample that is used because it "weeds" out the bad sperm (they won't fit through the gradient).  And especially with IVF, the microscopes are so high powered, and the embryologist will use morphologically normal sperm.  If you think about, 65 million sperm --7% normal = 4 million sperm -- and remember, there only needs to be one!  GL 2 u

[bny807]

OMG, your story made me shiver and brought tears to my eyes!!!! CONGRATS!!! WOW after three years of ttc!!!!   I so wish we could be a success story  like yours!  thats so exciting!!!!  I am afraid that we are going to have to go the ICSI route as well, especially becuase its not just his issues we are up against!   WOW Thats why i wanted to give IUI a try, if the morph is 2% normal out of 57million, surely one little guy can make the goal!!!! but apparently it is harder and more complicated than that in most cases! well congratulations, and I really appreciate you telling us your story!!! GIves me hope, which We desparately need after all of the bad news! : ) ENjoy the rest of your pregnancy and that little baby!!! : )

[bizbiz]

Hi, I just wanted to let you know that after ttc for 3 years the fert specialists finally did a more specialised test on dh and found that although he had a good sprem count, the morphology was really bad (4%), and apparentely the zona-binding test (to see if the sperm can actually penetrate an egg) was even worse. So we were told we would have to do ICSI. I asked the same thing in regards to what would happen if one of these funny shaped / looking sperm would fertilize the egg, and the specialist said it would be fine because although they look funny on the outside, all the genetic material and DNA inside is normal and fine.

But just to let you know - we were going to start the ICSI in Feb or March after we came back from Christmas holidays, but suprise suprise I I got pregnant NATURALLY in early December. I am now almost 18 weeks. I guess one of the 'good sperm' got to the egg - heh heh heh !!

[bny807]

Hello!  I'm 27, dh 29 : )  I sure hope its worth it in the end! its a tough process to go thru!   I hear ya, we were the first of our friends to get off the pill and start trying, now it seems like so many of them are already pregnant and about to have babies! People who aren't going through it just can't understand, they say try not to stress or don't worry it will happen! or the worst your not pregnant yet!!  ugh! so its great to vent on this site for sure! and I don't stay awake late at night wandering about things, i can get questions off my chest here! : )    Well thats great news that your bloodwork was normal! and liike i said 7% with kruger isn't that bad! hopefully all natural or IUI will do the trick no problem : )  GOOD Luck on your HSG!  A lot of people get pregnant the several cycles after that, because it can oepn tubes that are narrow or slightly closed!  Keep me updated! : )

[jennifer399]

hello! wow, you have been through a lot. it will all be worth it in the end.  how old are you?
i'm 28, we have sort of just begun the process, my husbands semen analysis was last week (more info in my first post) and i just got news that my blood work was 'normal'.  phew.  now i'm wiating for my hsg on friday. we have been ttc for almost 1 yr, but i have been off the pill for almost 2yrs.  i am surrounded by ppl who got pregnant on their "first try:". . so i have felt sort of like the lone ranger and in my own little infertility world if you coudl call it that!  

[me2angels]

The semen analysis is not a brilliant one, but be sure, the problem is not the semen. You can be sure of that.

This is a semen perferctly good for conceiving naturally and fast.

[bny807]

We have been ttc for one year (off the pill for one year, first two months thought i'd just see what happened! ha! i'm too much of a planner for that!!! so started opk-ing etc after that) had a chem preg 4 months ago, they found a cyst - ended up being an endometrioma destroying my left ovary, had my lap a little over a month ago, diagnosed with severe endo! shock since I never had any symptoms except premenstrual spotting since stopping BCP's, during my lap they did the HSG, then dh did his SA and for another devestating blow got those results!! pheww! its been a draining several months to say the least!!!)  I also had a sono and sonohysterogram to check the spotting, make sure there were no polyps.
   We went to the RE a week after my lap, did femara 2.5mg days 3-7, then follie check, trigger, and then IUI last tuesday, my RE is being very aggressive since we have so many issues.. so he checked a ultrasound day after the IUI and my follie was still there, now 25mm instead of 22mm, so it didn't release!!! MORE bad news! ugh, so anyhow now i'm just waiting for AF to start (anohter ten days or so) then will do the IUI again next month with a stronger Trigger, if that doesnt' work , prob move to IVF!  its crazy how fast this is happening!
  how long have yall been ttc??   I thought starting this process young that I could avoid most fertility issues, but it hasn't been our luck!   I think with the kruger criteria that the normal ones are pretty normal (from what i've read) and thats why the % is so low, becuase they are so strict about what IS normal!   What all have yall tried thus far?? good luck!!!

[jennifer399]

thank you for the info!  how long have you been ttc? i guess our next step would be iui also.  i have an HSG on friday and had blood work today. . so i guess i'll know a lot more after that.  have you had an HSG yet?
i read on some doctors website that with such a low number of 'normal' sperm it usually means that even the 'normal' ones are not exactly normal.. . kind of scared me
when are you trying iui?

[bny807]

Hello! well I learned some about the kruger morphology when my dh did his first SA several weeks ago and it was only 2%!!!!    (he is 29, me 27). Apparently varicoceles are common causes of low morph.   They say that 14% is normal for the strict criteria (kruger critera) however that very few people are actually that good!  that the criteria is soo strict that very few men actually have as good as 14%!      As far as an abormally shaped sperm penetrating the egg, thats typically the problem, they are abnormally shaped therefore CANT penetrate or fertilitze the egg, from what I've heard they just can't fertilize the egg so there are no worries of what if one does and that there will not be any genetic flaws of the embryo.     I have multiple issues (endo, low progesterone, and one working ovary from the endo!) so we are trying IUI (even though his morph is low, with a count of 60milllion after the wash, 2% is still a lot of viable sperm!  If that doen'st work we'lll look at ivf with icsi (where they inject a single sperm into one egg) but this is more due to our combo of factors!
  Have yall tried IUI?  with a 7% this seems like it would be a great way to go depending on if there are other issues keeping yall from getting preg!   GOOD LUCK! keep us updated!