Abstract
Purpose: To present the occurrence of a monozygotic bichorionic twinning after the transfer of a single frozen/thawed embryo has undergone assisted zona hatching (AZH), using a non contact laser.
Methods: A 33-year-old woman who underwent single frozen embryo replacement (FER). Before transfer, the patient was treated with GnRH agonist and with substitutive therapy (estrogens and progesterone).
Conclusions: We are absolutely certain that we are reporting a monozygotic bichorionic pregnancy: a single frozen/thawed embryo was transferred and no concomitant spontaneous conception was possible. Moreover, molecular biology assessment for polymorphisms confirmed clinical findings. The possibility of the occurrence of a monozygotic bichorionic twinning after the transfer of a single frozen/thawed embryo should be borne in mind and its incidence will have to be studied further.
References
Bulmer MG: The Biology of Twinning in Man, Oxford, UK, Claredon Press, 1970
Edwards RG, Mettler L, Walters DE: Identical twins and in vitro fertilization. J IVF-ET 1986;3:114–117
Unger S, Hoopmann M, Bald R, Foth D, Nawroth F: Monozygotic triplets and monozygotic twins after ICSI and transfer of two blastocysts: Case report. Hum Reprod 2004;19:110–113
Zikopoulos K, Platteau P, Kolibianakis E, Albano C, Van Steirteghem A, Devroy P, Quintuplet pregnancy following transfer of two blastocysts: Case report. Hum Reprod 2004;19:325–327
Alikani M, Cekleniak NA, Walters E, Cohen J: Monozygotic twinning following assisted conception: an analysis of 81 consecutive cases. Hum Reprod 2003;18:1937–1943
Cassuto G, Chavrier M, Menezo Y: Culture conditions and not prolonged culture time are responsible for monozygotic twinning in human in vitro fertilization. Fertil Steril 2003;80:462–463
Menezo YJR, Sakkas D: Monozygotic twinning: is it related to apoptosis in the embryo? Hum Reprod 2002;17:247–248
Da Costa ALE, Abdelmassih S, De Oliveira FG, Abdelmassih V, Abdelmassih R, Nagy ZP, Balmaceda JP: Monozygotic twins and transfer at the blastocyst stage after ICSI. Hum Reprod 2001;16:333–336
Milki AA, Jun S, Hinckley MD, Behr B, Giudice LC, Westphal LM: Incidence of monozygotic twinning with blastocyst transfer compared to cleavage-stage transfer. Fertil Steril 2003;79:503–506
Schachter M, Raziel A, Friedler S, Strassburger D, Bern O, Ron-El R: Monozygotic twinning after assisted reproductive techniques: a phenomenon independent of micromanipulation. Hum Reprod 2001;16:1264–1269
Derom C, Vlietinck R, Derom R, Van den Berghe H, Thiery M: Increased monozygotic twinning rate after ovulation induction. Lancet 1987;1:1236–1238
Abusheika N, Salha O, Sharma V, Brinsden P: Monozygotic twinning and IVF/ICSI treatment: a report of 11 cases and review of literature. Hum Reprod Update 2000;6:396–403
Schieve LA, Meikle SF, Peterson HB, Jeng G, Burnett NM, Wilcox LS: Does assisted hatching pose a risk for monozygotic twinning in pregnancies conceived through in vitro fertilization? Fertil Steril 2000;74:288–294
Elizur SE, Levron J, Shrim A, Sivan E, Dor J, Shulman A: Monozygotic twinning is not associated with zona pellucida micromanipulation procedures but increases with high-order multiple pregnancies. Fertil Steril 2004;80:462–463
Van Langendonckt A, Wyns C, Godin PA, Toussaint-Demylle D, Donne J: Atypical hatching of a human blastocyst leading to monozygotic twinning: a case report. Fertil Steril 2000;74:1047–1050
Behr B, Milki AA: Visualization of atypical hatching of a human blastocyst in vitro forming two identical embryos. Fertil Steril 2003;80:1502–1503
Blickstein I, Jones C, Keith LG: Zygotic splitting rates after single-embryo transfer in in vitro fertilization. N Engl J Med 2003;348:2366–2367
Milki AA, Hinckley MD, Grumet FC, Chitkara U: Concurrent IVF and spontaneous conception resulting in a quadruplet pregnancy. Hum Reprod 2001;16:2324–2326
Carroll J, Depypere H, Matthews CD: Freeze-thaw induced changes of the zona pellucida explains decreased rates of fertilization in frozen-thawed mouse oocytes. J Reprod Fertil 1990;90:547–553
Tao J, Tamis R: Application of assisted hatching for 2-day-old, frozen-thawed embryo transfer in a poor-prognosis population. J Assist Reprod Genet 1997;14:128–130
Gabrielsen A, Agerholm I, Toft B, Hald F, Petersen K, Feldinger B, et al.: Assisted hatching improves implantation rates on cryopreserved-thawed embryos. A randomised prospective study. Hum Reprod 2004;19:2258–2262
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
The abstract of this case report was presented, as poster presentation, at the 13th World Congress on In Vitro Fertilization, Assisted Reproduction and Genetics, Istanbul, Turkey, May 26–29, 2005.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Allegra, A., Sammartano, F., Scaglione, P. et al. Monozygotic bichorionic twinning after transfer of a single frozen/thawed embryo that has undergone quarter laser-assisted zona thinning: A case report. J Assist Reprod Genet 22, 437–441 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-005-7483-9
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-005-7483-9