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<p class="MsoBodyText2" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; direction: ltr; line-height: normal; unicode-bidi: embed; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><strong>Introduction: </strong>Although assisted reproduction techniques are used extensively in Iran, screening for Y chromosome microdeletions before intracytoplasmic sperm injection is often undervalued. Our aim was to investigate Y chromosome microdeletions in men with idiopathic azoospermia or severe oligospermia.<strong></strong></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; direction: ltr; unicode-bidi: embed; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><strong>Materials and <span style="color: black;">Methods:</span></strong><span style="color: black;"> In 99 selected patients with azoospermia or severe oligospermia and elevated levels of follicle-stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone in combination with low serum testosterone levels, 20 pairs of sequence-tagged site-based primer sets specific for the Y microdeletion loci were analyzed. Primers were chosen to cover azoospermia factor (AZF) regions as well as deleted in azoospermia (DAZ) and the sex-determining region on Y chromosome (SRY) genes. Also, 100 healthy men served as a control group.</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText2" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; direction: ltr; line-height: normal; unicode-bidi: embed; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><strong>Results:</strong> Twenty-four patients (24.2%) had microdeletions in AZF genes, but no microdeletions were found in men in the control group. In 15 patients (62.5%), 1 deletion was found. Six patients (25%) had 2, and 3 (12.5%) had 3 deletions. The deletions mainly comprised the AZFc region (in 21 of 24 patients; 87.5%), which corresponds to the DAZ gene. Deletions in AZFb were found in 7 patients (29.2%), and 4 (16.7%) had deletions in the proximal part of AZF regions near SRY gene. No microdeletions were seen in the AZFa or SRY gene. </span></span></p><strong><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: ">Conclusion: </span></strong><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: ">Our results emphasize that Y chromosome microdeletion analysis should be carried out in all patients with idiopathic azoospermia or severe oligospermia who are candidates for intracytoplasmic sperm injection.</span>