Abstract
Despite a large focus on the use of vitrification to cryopreserve embryos in recent years, there are still arguments for the use of slow freezing for the cleavage-stage embryo. Having said this, there are lessons to be learned from the process of vitrification that could be applied to slow freezing to improve post-thaw survival and ultimately clinical pregnancy rates. Specifically, increasing the concentration of sucrose in the freezing solution from 0.1 to 0.2 M and subsequently increasing the sucrose concentrations in thawing solutions could prove beneficial. The use of vitrification warming solutions in the thawing of slow-frozen embryos may also be an option that not only improves survival but also streamlines product purchasing and protocols within the laboratory.
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Beilby, K., Quinn, P. (2017). Appendix F: Quinn’s Advantage Embryo Freeze Kit. In: Nagy, Z., Varghese, A., Agarwal, A. (eds) Cryopreservation of Mammalian Gametes and Embryos. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1568. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-6828-2_26
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-6828-2_26
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