| HelpRecID:
23 |
| QA-Morph001
- Sperm Head Morphology |
2/6/29/23
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Question
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Describe the morphology of the sperm head.
- [Question # QHA002] |
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Option
#1
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Normal Head |
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Option
#2
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Small Acrosomal Area in Head |
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Option
#2
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Head reduced in size |
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Option
#3
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Round Head |
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Option
#4
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Pyriform Head |
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Option
#5
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Amorphous Head |
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Option
#6
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Vacuolated Head |
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Option
#7
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Tapered Head |
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Option
#8
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Elongated |
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Option
#9
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Cannot be determined. |
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Description
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Information about sperm head morphology. |
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Comment
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Information about sperm head morphology. (Reference WHO Laboratory Manual for the examination of human semen and Mortimer, 1994. Practical Laboratory Andrology). The head should be oval in shape with a length to width ratio of between 1.50 and 1.75 after accounting for some shrinkage due to fixation. The head should be between 4.0 and 5.0 um in length and 2.5-3.5 um in width. The head should contain a well defined acrosomal area of 40-70%. A variety of abnormal head shapes have been reported but the WHO manual describes large, small, tapered, pryiform, round or amorphous. Vacuolation in the head are considered significant if greater than 20% of the area. or if an acrosomal area is less than 20%. Pin head sperm are considered as free tails (since few contain head structures). |
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References
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Menkveld,R (1990) :The evaluation of morphological characteristics of human spermatozoa according to stricter criteria.
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Mortimer,D (2001) :Sperm Morphology Assessment - Historical Perspectives and Current Opinion
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WHO,4th Edition (1999) :WHO Manual for semen analysis
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