Evaluation of sperm nuclear integrity in patients with different percentages of decapitated sperm in ejaculates  Christine Rondanino, Véronique Duchesne, Denise Escalier, Fanny Jumeau, France Verhaeghe, Marie-Claire Peers, Valérie Mitchell, Nathalie Rives  Reproductive BioMedicine Online  Volume 31, Issue 1, Pages 89-99 (July 2015) DOI: 10.1016/j.rbmo.2015.04.002 Copyright © 2015 Reproductive Healthcare Ltd. Terms and Conditions

Figure 1 Ultrastructure of spermatozoa presenting varying degrees of decapitation. (A) TEM of a longitudinal section of an isolated flagellum from patient 1; (B) TEM of a longitudinal section of a spermatozoon from patient 3. The connecting piece is well aligned with the sperm head, but the implantation fossa (the site where the flagellum anchors) is not formed (arrow); (C) TEM of a longitudinal section of a spermatozoon with an abnormal head-midpiece connection (arrowhead) from patient 4. Head and tail are misaligned and form a 110° angle. The sperm head is surrounded by a large cytoplasmic mass. A large nuclear vacuole is present in the nucleus. The acrosome is undulated and not attached to the nucleus; (D) TEM of a longitudinal section of an isolated flagellum from patient 4. A large cytoplasmic droplet surrounds the midpiece. The ultrastructure of the flagellum appears normal; (E) TEM of a longitudinal section of an isolated head from patient 4. At the posterior pole of the nucleus, the implantation fossa and the basal plate are absent (arrow) and the nuclear envelope presents membranous whorls. A large nuclear vacuole is present in the nucleus. The acrosome is undulated and not attached to the nucleus. Ac = acrosome; CR = cytoplasmic residue; M = mitochondria; N = nucleus; TEM = transmission electron microscopy; V = vacuole. Scale bar = 0.5 µm. Reproductive BioMedicine Online 2015 31, 89-99DOI: (10.1016/j.rbmo.2015.04.002) Copyright © 2015 Reproductive Healthcare Ltd. Terms and Conditions