Several head shapes and sizes have been described by the WHO (1999, 2010).
Parameters | Morphological aspects |
---|---|
Normal | regular oval shape |
Macrocephalic | the head is clearly above the normal |
Microcephalic | the head is present but clearly smaller than the normal size |
Elongated | the head has the form of a cigar |
Pyriform | the head has the form of a pear |
Amorphous | the head has slight to strong deviation from oval form |
Double | two heads attached to one or two midpieces and tails |
Pin | the head is absent, but the cells are alive and usually move |
Round | the head is perfectly spheric and no acrosome is present |
Presence of vacuoles
The presence 1-2 vacuoles in the sperm head can be considered as normal. More than 2, should be considered as abnormal, according to the strict criteria.