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Effect of maternal and embryonic factors on frozen-thawed IVF-ET outcome after pre-equilibration with hyaluronan

  • Gynecologic Endocrinology and Reproductive Medicine
  • Published:
Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

To systematically evaluate the effect of maternal and embryonic factors on in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF-ET) outcomes among Chinese patients after using hyaluronan-enriched transfer medium (HETM).

Methods

This retrospective study included 637 frozen-thawed ET cycles. Patients were divided into subgroups based on their maternal or embryonic status or treatment procedures. The implantation, clinical pregnancy, delivery, and abortion rates were compared between the HETM and control groups. In addition, the implantation and clinical pregnancy rates were used to analyze the reciprocal effect of HETM and Preimplantation genetic screening (PGS) assessment.

Results

Maternal risk factors, especially maternal aging and a low number of retrieved oocytes, have a significant adverse impact on the efficacy of HETM usage. Endometrial preparation with artificial and natural cycles but not stimulated cycles showed a satisfying outcome after IVF-ET treatment. Compared with cleavage embryos, blastocyst stage embryo transfer showed more prominent improvement when using HETM. Prolonged pre-equilibration treatment with HETM notably compromised the IVF-ET outcome. PGS-based preselection could further facilitate the HETM-induced beneficial effect on IVF-ET outcomes. The body weight, length, and sex ratio of the neonate did not significantly differ between the HETM and control groups.

Conclusion

Both the maternal and embryonic status or treatment procedures affected the IVF-ET outcomes after using HETM. HETM had a beneficial effect on advantaged IVF cycles but did not improve the outcomes of disadvantaged IVF cycles. Endometrial preparation with stimulated cycles is not recommended when using HETM. Prolonged pre-equilibration treatment must be avoided.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from the PLA Key Research Program (no. 17JS004).

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Author notes

  1. Weizhou Wang, Likun Ren and Deli Wei contribute equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Assisted Reproductive Centre of the Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, PLA Naval General Hospital, Beijing, China

    Weizhou Wang, Likun Ren, Deli Wei, Yuliang Shen, Bin Liu, Xina Wang, Fu Chen, Min Li, Ling Yan & Wei Shang

  2. Affiliated BaYi Children’s Hospital, PLA Army General Hospital, Beijing, China

    Zhichun Feng

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  1. Weizhou Wang
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Contributions

WW and LR: Data collection, analysis, and manuscript writing; DW: Data collection and analysis; YS, BL, XW, FC: IVF/ICIS procedures; ML, LY: Embryo transfer and PGS; WS and ZF: Project development and experimental design.

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Correspondence to Zhichun Feng or Wei Shang.

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Wang, W., Ren, L., Wei, D. et al. Effect of maternal and embryonic factors on frozen-thawed IVF-ET outcome after pre-equilibration with hyaluronan. Arch Gynecol Obstet 299, 247–258 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-018-4937-8

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