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The clinical outcomes of day 3 4-cell embryos after extended in vitro culture

  • Assisted Reproduction Technologies
  • Published:
Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objective

To evaluate the development potential and clinical significance of day 3 4-cell embryos after extended in vitro culture.

Methods

This study was a retrospective cohort study for patients with infertility treatment between January 2011 and July 2013. Patients undergoing blastocyst culture in controlled ovarian hyperstimulation cycles using surplus embryos were analyzed in the study. A total of 764 women undergoing blastocyst culture with 1,522 surplus 4-cell embryos on day 3 were analyzed. An additional 2,391 patients with embryos undergoing blastocyst culture during the same period with embryos having more blastomeres were chosen as control.

Results

After extended culture, 253 embryos from 183 cycles in the study group which developed to blastocysts were frozen, and 118 embryos were warmed in subsequent frozen embryo transfer cycles. Implantation rates, clinical pregnancy rates (PRs) and ongoing PRs were 33.3 %, 38.4 % and 31.4 %, respectively, which were similar to those of the control group. The singleton birth weights of newborns using these blastocysts showed no significant difference to that seen in the control group.

Conclusion

Surplus 4-cell embryos on day 3 displayed lower blastulation rates. However, once a blastocyst is obtained, it has equivalent clinical outcomes. Embryos that are developmentally lagging on day 3 can be observed in extended culture to increase the cumulative chances of a successful pregnancy.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Ms. Lixue Chen who is the senior statistician in our department for her kindly help with data analyses.

The authors thank Natural Sciences Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 30900512 and 810705340) for supporting this work.

Conflict of interest

None declared

Authors’ roles

P.L. conceived and designed the study; P.Z., M.L.,Y.L. and X.Z. coordinated data collection; P.Z. and P.L. analyzed and interpreted the data; P.Z. wrote the paper; J.Q. and P.L. revised the manuscript critically. All authors interpreted the data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Reproductive Medical Center, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

    Ping Zhao, Ming Li, Ying Lian, Xiaoying Zheng, Ping Liu & Jie Qiao

  2. Key Laboratory of Assisted Reproduction, Ministry of Education, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

    Ping Zhao, Ming Li, Ying Lian, Xiaoying Zheng, Ping Liu & Jie Qiao

  3. Beijing Key Laboratory of Reproductive Endocrinology and Assisted Reproduction, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

    Ping Zhao, Ming Li, Ying Lian, Xiaoying Zheng, Ping Liu & Jie Qiao

Authors
  1. Ping Zhao
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  2. Ming Li
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  3. Ying Lian
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  4. Xiaoying Zheng
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  5. Ping Liu
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  6. Jie Qiao
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ping Liu.

Additional information

Capsule Surplus 4-cell embryos on day 3 displayed lower blastulation rates. Transfer of cryopreserved blastocysts developed from day 3 4-cell embryos results in equivalent clinical outcomes to that of the other blastocysts.

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Zhao, P., Li, M., Lian, Y. et al. The clinical outcomes of day 3 4-cell embryos after extended in vitro culture. J Assist Reprod Genet 32, 55–60 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-014-0361-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-014-0361-6

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