FISH on sperm: spot-counting to stop counting? Not yet

Objective: To evaluate the reliability and applicability of the spot-counting system (Cytovision Spot AX workstation) which offers an alternative to the tedious manual analysis of sperm fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Design: Manual and automatic analyses were performed and compared. Setting: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Patient(s): Twenty-four men who asked for information on infertility showing different seminal parameters. Intervention(s): A semen sample for each patient was collected and prepared for FISH. Main Outcome Measure(s): A dual-color FISH using specific probes for chromosomes 13 and 21 and a triple-color FISH with centromeric probes for chromosomes 18, X, and Y were used (Vysis). Standard FISH analysis was carried out. Automatic analysis was subsequently performed using a Spot AX system. Result(s): Overall, we performed 120 comparisons. In 116 out of 120 (96.67%), the percentage of anomalies reported using manual counting fell within the incidence detected using the automatic system. In the remaining comparisons, statistical differences were detected (4 out of 120; 3.33%). Time consumed by the automatic analysis was always higher than the manual one, being influenced by the characteristics of the preparations. Conclusion(s): The spot-counting system has potential, but before the service is ready to be offered, we still need to overcome some limitations associated with it. © 2009 American Society for Reproductive Medicine.