Abstract
Objective
To assess the impact of one–two blastomeres lysis on the viability of thawed day 3 human embryos.
Methods
A retrospective analysis was performed on 248 frozen-thawed embryo replacement cycles in which all embryos were frozen at day 3 at the seven–eight cell stage with ≤10% fragmentation.
Results
Outcomes of transfer cycles with fully intact embryos (intact group) were compared with those in which all transferred embryos have lost one–two blastomeres (damage group). Comparable pregnancy rates (38.46% vs 38.64%), birth rates (34.62% vs 36.36%) and implantation rates (26.31% vs 26.25%) were obtained in intact and damage groups. These results were also not significantly different from mixed transfer cycles in which one intact embryo and one damaged embryo were transferred together.
Conclusion
The developmental potential of partially damaged cryopreserved human embryos with less than 25% cells loss is comparable to that of fully intact embryos. Presence of one–two lysed blastomeres in the thawed day 3 embryo does not appear to have a negative influence on the further development of the sibling intact cells.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Trounson A, Mohr L. Human pregnancy following cryopreservation, thawing and transfer of an eight-cell embryo. Nature 1983;305:707–9.
Hartshorne GM, Wick K, Elder K, Dyson H. Effect of cell number at freezing upon survival and viability of cleaving embryos generated from stimulated IVF cycles. Hum Reprod. 1990;5:857–61.
Burns WN, Gaudet TW, Martin MB, Leal YR, Schoen H, Eddy CA, et al. Survival of cryopreservation and thawing with all blastomeres intact identifies multicell embryos with superior frozen embryo transfer outcome. Fertil Steril. 1999;72:527–32.
Edgar DH, Bourne H, Speirs AL, Mc Bain JC. A quantitative analysis of the impact of cryopreservation on the implantation potential of human early cleavage stage embryos. Hum Reprod. 2000;15:175–9.
Guerif F, Bidault R, Cadoret V, Couet ML, Lansac J, Royere D. Parameters guiding selection of best embryos for transfer after cryopreservation: a reappraisal. Hum Reprod. 2002;17:1321–6.
El-Toukhy T, Khalaf Y, Al-Darazi K, Andritsos V, Taylor A, Braude P. Effect of blastomere loss on the outcome of frozen embryo replacement cycles. Fertil Steril. 2003;79:1106–11.
Lassalle B, Testart J, Renard JP. Human embryo features that influence the success of cryopreservation with the use of 1,2 propanediol. Fertil Steril. 1985;44:645–51.
Hardy K, Martin KL, Leese HJ, Winston RM, Handyside AH. Human preimplantation development in vitro is not adversely affected by biopsy at the 8-cell stage. Hum Reprod. 1990;5:708–14.
Van de Velde H, De Vos A, Sermon K, Staessen C, De Rycke M, Van Assche E, et al. Embryo implantation after biopsy of one or two cells from cleavage-stage embryos with a view to preimplantation genetic diagnosis. Prenat Diagn. 2000;20:1030–7.
Rienzi L, Nagy ZP, Ubaldi F, Iacobelli M, Anniballo R, Tesarik J, et al. Laser assisted removal of necrotic blastomeres from cryopreserved embryos that were partially damaged. Fertil Steril. 2002;77:1196–201.
Alikani M, Olivennes F, Cohen J. Microsurgical correction of partially degenerate mouse embryos promotes hatching and restores their viability. Hum Reprod. 1993;10:1723–8.
Tang R, Catt J, Howlett D. Towards defining parameters for a successful single embryo transfer in frozen cycles. Hum Reprod. 2006;21:1179–83.
Liu WX, Zheng Y, Luo MJ, Huang P, Yue LM, Wang L, et al. Effects of removal of necrotic blastomeres from mouse cryopreserved embryos on blastocyst formation and hatching. Theriogenology 2005;64:1114–20.
Elliott TA, Colturato LF, Taylor TH, Wright G, Kort HI, Nagy ZP. Lysed cell removal promotes frozen-thawed embryo development. Fertil Steril. 2007;87:1444–9.
Rienzi L, Ubaldi F, Iacobelli M, Minasi MG, Romano S, Ferrero S, et al. Developmental potential of fully intact and partially damaged cryopreserved embryos after laser-assisted removal of necrotic blastomeres and post-thaw culture selection. Fertil Steril. 2005;84:888–94.
Nagy ZP, Taylor T, Elliott T, Massey JB, Kort HI, Shapiro DB. Removal of lysed blastomeres from frozen-thawed embryos improves implantation and pregnancy rates in frozen embryo transfer cycles. Fertil Steril. 2005;84:1606–12.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Capsule Presence of one–two lysed blastomeres in the thawed day 3 embryo does not appear to have a negative influence on the further development of the sibling intact cells.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zheng, X., Liu, P., Chen, G. et al. Viability of frozen-thawed human embryos with one–two blastomeres lysis. J Assist Reprod Genet 25, 281–285 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-008-9224-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-008-9224-3