Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI)

What is ICSI?

ICSI (pronounced ick-see) is an acronym for Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection. It is a fancy way of saying “inject sperm into egg” ICSI is a very effective method to fertilize eggs in the IVF lab after they have been aspirated from the female.

The main use of ICSI is for severe male infertility cases where count and/or motility is very poor or where sperm is extracted surgically from the testes or epididymis. However, it’s also used for certain other indications such as, advanced maternal age, moderate to severe endometriosis, poor ovarian reserve etc.

What does the ICSI process involve?

ICSI involves the use of specialized micromanipulation tools and equipment and inverted microscopes that enable embryologists to select and pick up individual sperm in a specially designed ICSI needle. The needle is carefully advanced through the outer shell of the egg and the egg membrane – and the sperm is injected into the inner part (cytoplasm) of the egg. This usually results in normal fertilization in about 75- 85% of eggs injected with sperm. However, first the woman must be stimulated with medications and have an egg retrieval procedure so we can obtain several eggs for IVF and ICSI.

What is the difference between IVF and ICSI?

The difference between IVF and ICSI is in the procedure in the laboratory and the process for the patient in both treatments remains the same.
All the steps for the patient from the time of using hormonal injections to stimulate the production of multiple eggs till the embryo transfer remain the same for the patient. However, in the Lab, the oocytes are subjected to ICSI instead of just leaving the sperms surrounding the egg and waiting for fertilization as happens in IVF.

Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI)

Who should be treated with intracytoplasmic sperm injection?

There is no “standard of care” in this field of medicine regarding which cases should have the ICSI procedure and which should not.

Some clinics use it only for severe male infertility, and some use it on every case. The large majority of IVF clinics are somewhere in the middle of these 2 extremes. Xenith considered the best IVF centre in PCMC, Pune, carries out the correct diagnosis and only then suggests the right infertility treatment.

How is ICSI performed?

ICSI has helped countless couples to become pregnant when they otherwise would have not been able to conceive naturally. At Xenith, we have state of the art equipment and we specialize in ICSI Treatment for infertility in Pune. We are also the only single speciality IVF Centre, to conduct all surgical sperm extraction, under a high magnification microscope thus helping the couple achieve a much higher pregnancy rate with ICSI in severe male factor infertility. We offer the most competitive ICSI treatment costs in Pune.

Are there any risks associated with ICSI?

There is an overall risk of 0.8-3% of having a baby with chromosomal abnormality which is associated with increased miscarriages and other possible problems related to the development of the child even in natural conceptions. These risks tend to increase with maternal age. ICSI adds a marginal risk of 3-5% to the baseline risk. Our doctors at Xenith will explain the pros and cons of this treatment for your consideration.

Call us today to book an appointment for the best ICSI treatment in Pune.

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