Principle causes of infertility in the male Flashcards

1
Q

What history should we ask when presented with an infertile male? (7)

A
  • Has he ever been used successfully? How long ago?
  • How old is he?
  • How many females has he been with and when?
  • Were they in good breeding condition?
  • Did females breed successfully with other males or A.I.?
  • Is he home-bred or bought/hired in? When?
  • Has he had febrile disease or treatment recently?
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2
Q

What do we look for on a clinical exam when investigating male infertility? (7)

A
  • Whole animal clinical exam not just the reproductive system
  • Observe from a distance – lameness, posture, demeanour
  • TPR and BCS
  • Teeth to check age
  • Check that the age the owner thinks It is matches what you see!
  • People aren’t always the most honest when selling
  • Eyes check for cataracts
  • Can’t see where they are going or the female
  • Brisket – check for sores*
  • When you don’t fit the harness properly – sore (see picture)
  • Legs check range of movement and any indication of pain in legs as well as feet
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3
Q

What is this?

A

Brisket sore

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4
Q

What is the affect of feet or leg abnormailites?

A

•Feet and leg abnormalities that did not cause lameness were not significantly associated with semen quality but may affect libido (they might just not be interested as a result because they CBA)

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5
Q

What can be wrong with leg confirmation?

A
  • Posty legs
  • Puffy hocks
  • Very straight legs
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6
Q

What conditions are there of the prepuce? (6)

A
  • Urolithiasisis – crystals on preapical hair
  • Crystals indicate risk of urolithiasis
  • Bladder stones block
  • May need to discuss diet – more likely to get these stones
  • Absent musculature in bulls/Too tight musculature can prevent intromission
  • Too tight or loose and wouldn’t work very well
  • Phimosis (can’t get out) and paraphimosis (can’t get back)
  • Infectious balanitis
  • Eversion leading to trauma
  • Bit floppy and hanging out – get kicked more likely
  • Trauma and foreign bodies
  • Depends on how pendulous it is
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7
Q

What conditions are there of the accessory sex glands? (3)

A
  • Hyperplasia of prostate (dog)
  • Infectious seminal vesiculitis – typically yearling bulls; refractory to treatment; diagnose & treat early.Tulathromycin weekly for 6 weeks; Meloxicam by injection alternate days for first 2 weeks.
  • Check for the abnormal shape of the seminal vesciles
  • Absence (any species)
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8
Q

How can we exam the accessory sex glands? (3)

A
  • Digital in dog
  • Rectal in bull/stallion
  • Ultrasound
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9
Q

What do we do to assess the conditions of the testciles?

A

Scrotal circumference (part of physical exam) – very informative. Should be part of the clinical exam for a breeding exam

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10
Q

What are the conditions of the testciles? (6)

A
  • Hypoplasia – bilateral or unilateral. Congenital can be due to abnormality of blood supply (More common in Belgian Blue bulls)
  • Hard and possibly small due to post-traumatic scarring or fibrosis/calcification with age
  • Soft due to tubular atrophy (including non-breeding season)
  • Absent – cryptorchid
  • Rotated – stallion. Not significant.
  • Epididymis is on the wrong side
  • Enlarged – neoplasia, especially older dogs
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11
Q

What is this?

A

Small epididymis! Had v poor semen quality

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12
Q

What are the conditions of the epididymis?

A
  • Lumpy, esp. ascending infection (mainly ram), blockage (spermatocoele)
  • Floppy, small, possibly displaced cauda
  • Absence (segmental aplasia of mesonephric duct)
  • It may just not be there at all
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13
Q

How do you assess the scrotum?

A

•Testis should move easily within the scrotum, if not then adhesions are indicators of previous infection and inflammation or trauma

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14
Q

Why will a short scrotum affect sperm?

A

•Sperm production is affected by body temperature – so needs to hang low

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15
Q

What is shown?

A

•Normal vs short scrotum

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16
Q

What causes orchitis? Where is it seen? What do we do if we find it?

A

Seen in rams. Brucella Ovis in rams is notifiable and causes orchitis as primary symptom. PHONE APHA. Should be in top 3 of differentials

17
Q

What causes dermatitis?

A

Chorioptic mange common cause of scrotal dermatitis in rams

18
Q

What are the conditions of the penis? (6)

A
  • Trauma – all species, but especially stallion
  • Rupture at the sigmoid flexure – ruminants
  • Papillomas and other tumours – sometimes self-cure; can often be ligated in bulls; Squamous cell carcinoma at urethral orifice in stallions, fibroblastic sarcoids on penile/preputial skin, Transmissible Venereal Granuloma in dogs.
  • Corkscrew penis in bulls
  • Normal in a boar
  • But bad in bull – hard to get in
  • Persistent frenulum
  • Most common in goats - although not v common
  • Try to extend the penis and you will find it
  • ‘Pizzle rot’ – Rams - Corynebacterium renale: grows in the alkaline environment caused by the high urinary urea content of rams on high protein diets
19
Q

What is this?

A

Papilloma – little warts on the penis. Common in bulls. Can be ligated or self cure!

20
Q

What are the causes of infectious cattle infertility?

Viral (4)

Bacterial (7)

Protozoa (1)

A

Viral

•IBR, BVD, EBL (enzootic bovine leukosis – ND! You would see other signs before probably), Bluetongue

Bacterial

•Campylobacter, Brucella (ND) (B. Abortus), TB, Lepto, Johne’s, Mycoplasma, Ureaplasma

Protozoal

•Trichomonas – we think we haven’t got it atm. But we just haven’t got a lot of it! Just be aware as worldwide it is a big problem!! E.g. V common in N Spain.

21
Q

What are the infectious causes of infetility in sheep?

Viral? (2)

Bacterial? (4)

A

Viral

  • Bluetongue and possible Schmallenberg.
  • Schmallenberg is more under control now

Bacterial

  • Brucella ovis (notifiable), possible Johne’s, Mycoplasma, Ureaplasma
  • Brucella is a high risk if brought in from an endemic country
22
Q

What are the infectious causes of infertility in horses?

Viral? (4)

Bacterial? (5)

Protozoa? (1)

A

Viral

•EVA (equine viral arteritis) , EIA (equine infectious anaemia), Vesicular stomatitis, African horse sickness

Bacterial

•CEM *Taylorella* , Klebsiella, Pseudomonas, Salmonella abortus equi, Glanders

Protozoal

•Dourine – we don’t have it in the UK. Just double check.

23
Q

How long does it take for pyrexia to affect sememn quality?

A

4-6 weeks