By Ann Harrell Male Infertility may be the object of sitcom humor, but for men who experience it, it is no laughing matter. Dr. John McConnell, chairman of urology at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, takes it seriously. If a testicular biopsy, done as an office procedure, reveals the site of a blockage holding the sperm prisoner, McConnell often can solve the problem microsurgically.
Undescended testicles is another problem.
The absence of the vas deferens, the tube in which the sperm wait to be ejaculated, may require surgical intervention. Other testing may include an ultrasound of the prostate gland and seminal vesicles and X-rays of the ejaculatory duct. The hypothalamus and the pituitary gland control male gonadal function in men in the same way they control ovarian function in women. When operating normally, their interaction triggers cells in the testes to produce sperm. Other hormonal problems may be genetic.