Sperm motility and viability extracted from penile tract of corpses: A preliminary study

Abstract

Posthumous sperm retrieval is a procedure in which spermatozoa are extracted from a man after he has been pronounced legally brain dead. Sperm retrieval from the penis has not been studied previously to the best of our knowledge. Our purpose was to determine the motility and viability of sperm from the penis with increasing time intervals from death. There was a progressive decrease in sperm motility with increasing post-mortem intervals, with a progressive increase in non-motility. Similarly, the sperm viability also showed a decreasing pattern with the increasing post-mortem interval. The sperm were found to be viable up to 24 h after death. Penile tract sperm retrieval has not been previously studied as far as we know.