Oligospermia

OLIGOSPERMIA (hyperspermia), a condition in which an abnormally small quantity of semen is discharged. According to Ultzmann, the discharge of less than 5 cm³ of semen during ejaculation should be considered a pathological phenomenon. A reduction in the quantity of semen is often observed in old age (above 55 years), when the secretion of the sex glands is diminished. Such a condition at this age can be considered physiological. In young men, oligospermia may be caused by excesses in venereal matters, diseases, or obstruction of the excretory ducts of the sex glands. Changes of a connective tissue nature in the prostate gland, seminal vesicles, testicles, and their excretory ducts lead to a reduction in the secretion produced in them. The more extensive the lesion, the less the secret discharged; the admixture of the latter to the ejaculate may be completely stopped when the excretory ducts of the sex glands are obliterated or obstructed. In partial lesions of the spermatic ducts, oligospermia is observed, expressed in a less severe form. Oligospermia is often combined with oligozoospermia, i.e., a reduction in the number of viable spermatozoa, or oligonecrospermia (see Necrospermia), which cause male infertility (see). Both of these latter conditions in many cases represent only a transient phenomenon and serve as a transitional stage from a normal state to azoospermia (see), or, conversely, to a normal state in cases of curable azoospermia. For the diagnosis of oligospermia, measurement of the quantity of ejaculate is required, while for oligozoospermia and asthenospermia, determination of the quantity and motility of spermatozoa is necessary. The treatment of oligospermia consists in eliminating the etiological factor. Sexual abstinence should be prescribed for 2-3 weeks in cases where the cause is excesses in venereal matters. In organic changes in the sex glands and excretory ducts, therapy should be directed at the primary affliction. Lit.—see lit. to art. Impotence.