Surgical Sperm Extraction

MESA is the abbreviation for microsurgical epididymal sperm aspiration. Hereby, tissue samples are extracted from the male epididymis. MESA is useful - for example in case of inoperable bilateral congestion of the seminal ducts, completely immotile sperm samples, azoospermia or ejaculatory dysfunctions as a consequence of paraplegia or radical oncological operations.

The testicular biopsy (extraction of testicular tissue) is a diagnostic procedure to determine whether there are mature, live and vital sperm in the testes.

TESE stands for testicular sperm extraction and is also a kind of testicular biopsy. However, the sperm here are extracted from the testes for therapeutic purposes. The sperm cells obtained by MESA or TESE are generally suitable only for extracorporeal fertilisation by ICSI.