{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,28]],"date-time":"2026-02-28T17:46:43Z","timestamp":1772300803941,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,9,8]],"date-time":"2023-09-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1694131200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100012166","name":"National Key Research and Development Program of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["2022YFC2702700"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2022YFC2702700"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100012166","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100012166","name":"National Key Research and Development Program of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["81800162"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["81800162"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100012166","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Youth Science Fund Project of National Natural Science Foundation of China","award":["2022YFC2702700"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2022YFC2702700"]}]},{"name":"Youth Science Fund Project of National Natural Science Foundation of China","award":["81800162"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["81800162"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["J. Imaging"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Microdissection testicular sperm extraction (mTESE) is the first-line treatment plan for nonobstructive azoospermia (NOA). However, studies reported that the overall sperm retrieval rate (SRR) was 43% to 63% among men with NOA, implying that nearly half of the patients fail sperm retrieval. This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of parameters derived from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in predicting SRR in patients with NOA. Seventy patients diagnosed with NOA were enrolled and classified into two groups based on the outcome of sperm retrieval during mTESE: success (29 patients) and failure (41 patients). Scrotal magnetic resonance imaging was performed, and the DTI parameters, including mean diffusivity and fractional anisotropy, were analyzed between groups. The results showed that there was a significant difference in mean diffusivity values between the two groups, and the area under the curve for mean diffusivity was calculated as 0.865, with a sensitivity of 72.2% and a specificity of 97.5%. No statistically significant difference was observed in fractional anisotropy values and sex hormone levels between the two groups. This study demonstrated that the mean diffusivity value might serve as a useful noninvasive imaging marker for predicting the SRR of NOA patients undergoing mTESE.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jimaging9090182","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,9,8]],"date-time":"2023-09-08T07:52:11Z","timestamp":1694159531000},"page":"182","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":11,"title":["Noninvasive Prediction of Sperm Retrieval Using Diffusion Tensor Imaging in Patients with Nonobstructive Azoospermia"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"9","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4570-5026","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sikang","family":"Gao","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jun","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Urology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Dong","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pathology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1589-6861","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Xiangde","family":"Min","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Chanyuan","family":"Fan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Peipei","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Qiuxia","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8037-4245","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zhen","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Wei","family":"Cai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,9,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"691","DOI":"10.1590\/S1807-59322011000400026","article-title":"An update on the clinical assessment of the infertile male","volume":"66","author":"Esteves","year":"2011","journal-title":"Clinics"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e28218","DOI":"10.4161\/spmg.28218","article-title":"Review of Azoospermia","volume":"4","author":"Wosnitzer","year":"2014","journal-title":"Spermatogenesis"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.6061\/clinics\/2013(Sup01)01","article-title":"The azoospermic male: Current knowledge and future perspectives","volume":"68","author":"Esteves","year":"2013","journal-title":"Clinics"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2422","DOI":"10.1093\/humrep\/12.11.2422","article-title":"Distribution of spermatogenesis in the testicles of azoospermic men: The presence or absence of spermatids in the testes of men with germinal failure","volume":"12","author":"Silber","year":"1997","journal-title":"Hum. 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