This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Kim, S. W. Articles by Paick, J.-S. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Kim, S. W. Articles by Paick, J.-S.

A Different Female Partner Does Not Affect the Success of Second Vasectomy Reversal

From the Department of Urology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Correspondence to: Dr Jae-Seung Paick, Department of Urology, Seoul National University Hospital, 28 Yongon-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul 110-744, Korea (e-mail: jspaick{at}snu.ac.kr).

The aim of the study was to determine whether the pregnancy rate with the same female partner or younger partners was higher compared with different or older partners after undergoing repeated vasectomy reversal. A total of 44 patients were enrolled in the present study. The cause of reversal in patients with the same partner was the desire to have more children in 14 cases, the loss of a child in 7 cases, and the desire for a son in 7 cases. Patients were asked about pregnancy and childbirth during follow-up visits and by telephone or mail. Following microsurgical vasectomy reversal, patency was observed in 38 men (86.4%). Twenty-five of the couples (56.8%) achieved pregnancy without any artificial conception technique. We did not observe a significant difference in the pregnancy rate (57.1% vs 56.3%, P = .954) between patients with the same or a different female partner. In the multivariate model used, partner age was the only independent predictor for pregnancy. Patients with a partner less than 35 years old had a 4.1-fold greater chance (odds ratio, 4.13; 95% confidence interval, 1.06-16.10; P = .041) of pregnancy than those with a partner 35 years old or older. The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve for partner age was 73.0% (95% confidence interval 56.8-89.2, P = .011). Our findings suggest that repeat microsurgical vasectomy reversal still remains a reasonable choice for patients with different female partners. However, it should be considered that the likelihood of achieving pregnancy after repeat vasectomy reversal may decrease with advancing age of the female partner.

     Key words: Infertility, vasovasostomy, microsurgery, sterilization reversal, testes