ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: To compare the clinical outcomes of elective single morula embryo transfer (eSMET) versus elective single blastocyst embryo transfer (eSBET) in selected patients. METHODS: This study was a retrospective study which analyzed for 271 cycles in women under 37 years of age who are undergoing their first or second trial of in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET) from January 2008 to December 2009. The eSMET was performed on day 4 (n = 130) and the eSBET was conducted on day 5 (n = 141). RESULTS: The clinical pregnancy rate (51.5% vs. 51.8%, p = 0.97), implantation rate (52.3% vs. 52.5%, p = 0.98), and live birth rate (39.2% vs. 44.7%, p = 0.36) were similar in the eSMET and eSBET groups, respectively. The miscarriage rate of the eSMET group (23.9%) was slightly higher than that of the eSBET group (13.7%) (p = 0.12), without reaching statistical significance. There was only one case of monozygotic twin pregnancy in each group. CONCLUSIONS: The clinical outcomes of day 4 eSMET were comparable to those of day 5 eSBET. Therefore, day 4 eSMET is a viable option or an alternative to day 5 eSBET, with no difference in success rates.
Subject(s)
Blastocyst , Fertilization in Vitro/methods , Live Birth , Pregnancy Rate , Single Embryo Transfer/methods , Abortion, Spontaneous , Adult , Birth Rate , Embryo Implantation , Female , Humans , Morula , Ovulation Induction/methods , Pregnancy , Retrospective StudiesABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: This study was carried out to compare the clinical outcome of elective single cleavage-embryo transfer (eSCET) to that of elective single blastocyst-embryo transfer (eSBET) in human IVF-ET. METHODS: This study was a retrospective study which analyzed for 614 women who visited the Daegu Maria Clinic from August 2008 to December 2009. All were under 37 years old and had more than 8 mm of endometrial thickness on the day of hCG administration and at least one good quality embryo on day 3. The eSCETs were performed on day 3 (n=450) and the eSBETs were conducted on day 5 (n=164). RESULTS: The numbers of retrieved oocytes, fertilized oocytes, and day 3 good quality embryos were significantly lower in the eSCET group (12.1±6.0, 8.2±4.6, and 4.2±3.1, respectively) compared to the eSBET group (16.7±7.2, 12.1±5.0, and 8.5±4.5, respectively; p<0.001). However, the clinical pregnancy, implantation, on-going pregnancy, and live birth rates of the eSCET group (46.7, 46.9, 40.0, and 36.7%, respectively) were not statistically different from those of the eSBET group (51.2, 51.8, 45.1, and 43.9%, respectively; p=0.318, 0.278, 0.254, and 0.103, respectively). CONCLUSION: These results suggested that elective single embryo transfer should be performed regardless of the developmental stage to women less than 37 years old who had more than 8 mm of endometrial thickness on the hCG administration day and at least one good quality embryo on day 3 in order to reduce the twin pregnancy rate without reducing the whole pregnancy rate.
