Pregnancy in women with premature ovarian failure using tubal and intrauterine transfer of cryopreserved zygotes.
Twenty-nine women, mean age 36.3 (SD 5.5) years, with premature ovarian failure received donated ova on an ovum donation programme. Three had Turner's syndrome, four a surgical menopause, one a chemotherapy-induced menopause and 21 had idiopathic premature ovarian failure. All donated oocytes were fertilized with frozen-thawed spermatozoa from the recipient's partner, and the resulting zygotes were frozen until transfer had been arranged. Overall, 19 women had intrauterine embryo transfer (ET) and a mean of 2.7 (SD 0.9) embryos were transferred on 20 occasions; 10 women underwent zygote intrafallopian transfer (ZIFT) and a mean of 3.5 (SD 0.5) zygotes were transferred on 10 occasions. Both groups were matched for age. The pregnancy rate per transfer was 20% in the ET group and 40% in the ZIFT group. After excluding the 10 women in the ET group who had fewer than three embryos transferred, the pregnancy rates were similar in the two groups, 30% in the ET group and 40% in the ZIFT group. Cryopreserved embryos may be used for ovum donation to preserve anonymity and still show a high pregnancy rate of at least 30% per transfer.
Abdalla
H I
HI
Lister Fertility and Endocrinology Centre, Lister Hospital, London.
Baber
R J
RJ
Kirkland
A
A
Leonard
T
T
Studd
J W
JW
D000328:Adult; D004624:Embryo Transfer / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro / Q000379:methods*; D005615:Freezing; D006801:Humans; D009865:Oocytes / Q000637:transplantation; D010049:Ovarian Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D010053:Ovary / Q000503:physiopathology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011309:Preservation, Biological; D015053:Zygote / Q000637:transplantation*