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Is it worth it to cryopreserve embryos with blastulation delay at day 5?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 June 2019

D. Montjean*
Affiliation:
Service de Médecine et Biologie de la Reproduction, Hôpital Saint-joseph, Marseille, France
V. Pauly
Affiliation:
Département de Santé Publique et Maladies Chroniques, Aix-Marseille Université, Faculté de médecine, Unité de recherche EA 3279, 13005, Marseille, France Service d’information médicale, Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Marseille, 13009, Marseille, France
M. Gervoise-Boyer
Affiliation:
Service de Médecine et Biologie de la Reproduction, Hôpital Saint-joseph, Marseille, France
Aurélie Amar-Hoffet
Affiliation:
Service de Médecine et Biologie de la Reproduction, Hôpital Saint-joseph, Marseille, France
C. Geoffroy-Siraudin
Affiliation:
Service de Médecine et Biologie de la Reproduction, Hôpital Saint-joseph, Marseille, France
P Boyer
Affiliation:
Service de Médecine et Biologie de la Reproduction, Hôpital Saint-joseph, Marseille, France
*
*Address for correspondence: D. Montjean. Service de Médecine et Biologie de la Reproduction, Hôpital Saint-joseph, Marseille, France. E-mail: debbie_montjean@hotmail.com

Summary

This is a retrospective study over a 5-year period. In total, 3139 embryos were individually cryopreserved (Cryotop®) and warmed using the Kitazato vitrification/warming kit. They were classified into three categories based on their expansion degree. Transfer, implantation and pregnancy rates were assessed for each embryo category and compared using SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) software. In total, 1139 couples enrolled in infertility treatment programme benefitted from embryo vitrification at day 5. After warming, embryos belonging to the three categories showed similar success rates. Although there was a trend towards better outcomes when grade 3 embryos were transferred, the differences did not reach statistical significance: implantation rates (n fetal sac/n embryo transferred) grade 1: 21.9%, grade 2: 22.7% and grade 3: 30.3% (=0.19). Pregnancy rate (n clinical pregnancy/n transfer) (21.9%, 22.7%, 30.3%, respectively; P=0.11). Miscarriage rate was not statistically different in the three categories (14.5%, 20.4%, 20%, respectively, P=0.51). Our overall results show that it is worth vitrifying slow kinetics embryos as they provide a non-negligible chance to give rise to a pregnancy.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2019 

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