Sperm DNA Fragmentation

DNA fragmentation testing  is a type of male fertility test which measures the amount of damaged DNA in a sperm sample. All men have some amount of damage to their sperm DNA, but high percentages of damage may indicate greater difficulty achieving pregnancy with IUI and IVF. Sperm DNA fragmentation refers to the amount of damage seen in sperm DNA. Essentially, calculating what percentage of the sperm has breaks in the DNA.  Sperm are very small yet they need to carry massive amounts of genetic information to the egg. With so much DNA getting packed into a tiny sperm cell, it turns out not everything arrives intact as intended.

Understanding DNA Fragmentation Results :

On the SCSA report you will likely see a key with 4 values to help you understand your results:

a.) Excellent to Good (less than or equal to 15% DFI)

b.) Good to Fair (greater than 15% to less than 25% DFI)

c.) Fair to Poor (greater than or equal to 25% to less than 50% DFI)

d.) Very Poor (greater than or equal to 50% DFI)

Therefore, a patient with a DFI of 8.2% would fall into the "excellent to good" category with 8.2% of the sperm cells containing DNA damage. The SCSA test recommends that patients with a % DFI above 25% should skip IUI and go straight to IVF/ICSI for see more