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Neonatal Outcomes of Embryos Cultured in a Time-Lapse Incubation System: an Analysis of More Than 15,000 Fresh Transfer Cycles

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Abstract

In the past 5 years, the time-lapse culture system (TLS) has gradually been applied to the field of assisted reproduction. However, there are few reports on the comparison between this system and the conventional culture system (CS) on the outcome of newborns. As a new model in embryo culture, we should pay attention to its neonatal outcomes. We examined 15,252 fresh transfer cycles processed between January 2016 and December 2019. After propensity score matching, embryos in two groups, TLS and CS, had similar rates of miscarriages, ectopic pregnancy, and live delivery (P > 0.05). Embryos in the TLS group achieved higher clinical pregnancy and implantation rates (P < 0.05). Of the perinatal and neonatal outcomes, singletons and twins were analyzed separately. No significant differences were observed in gestational age, preterm deliveries, birth weight, and sex ratio (P > 0.05). Incidences of malformations of babies delivered from CS and TLS groups were also similar between the two groups. Embryos cultured in a TLS are as safe as CS with regard to neonatal outcomes, including congenital malformations.

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Acknowledgements

Thanks to Dr. Xinling Ren, Dr. Lixia Zhu, Dr. Li Wu, and Dr. Na Guo for their efforts during the follow-up at the Reproductive Medical Center, Tongji Hospital.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81801531, 82004017).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Reproductive Medicine Center, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

    Bing-Xin Ma, Hang Zhang, Lei Jin & Bo Huang

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  1. Bing-Xin Ma
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  2. Hang Zhang
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  3. Lei Jin
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  4. Bo Huang
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Contributions

B.M. was responsible for experimental design, data analysis, and manuscript writing. H.Z. conducted data analysis. B.H. was responsible for coordinating the study and assembling the time-lapse data. B.H. and L.J. contributed to the analysis of the project.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Lei Jin or Bo Huang.

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Ethics Approval

This retrospective study conformed to the Declaration of Helsinki for Medical Research involving Human Subjects. It was approved by the Ethical Committee of Reproductive Medicine Center, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medicine College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology.

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Not applicable.

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Not applicable.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

Data Transparency

All data and materials as well as a software application or custom code support our published claims and comply with field standards.

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Ma, BX., Zhang, H., Jin, L. et al. Neonatal Outcomes of Embryos Cultured in a Time-Lapse Incubation System: an Analysis of More Than 15,000 Fresh Transfer Cycles. Reprod. Sci. 29, 1524–1530 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43032-021-00714-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43032-021-00714-z

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