title: Assisted hatching in the treatment of poor prognosis in vitro fertilization candidates.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To access the effect of augmenting IVF with assisted hatching in the treatment of poor-prognosis patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-three poor-prognosis IVF patients were treated with assisted hatching and were compared with 43 control subjects without assisted hatching.
  
  
  METHODS
  Center for Reproductive Medicine, Swedish Medical Center, Englewood, Colorado.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventy-six women undergoing IVF with a poor prognosis for pregnancy. Poor prognosis was defined as Elevated day 3 FSH level; age > or = 39 years; and multiple prior IVF failures.
  
  
  METHODS
  Pregnancy and implantation rates per embryo.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The incidence of ongoing pregnancy in the assisted hatching group was 64% compared with 19% in the control group. Implantation rate per embryo transferred was 33% in the assisted hatching group versus 6.5% in the control group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results demonstrate that assisted hatching, when applied to poor-prognosis patients, improves embryonic implantation and pregnancy rates.
authors.affiliation: Center for Reproductive Medicine, Swedish Medical Center, Englewood, Colorado 80110.
authors.forename: W B
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Schoolcraft
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schlenker
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gee
authors.forename: G S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: H W
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Jones
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D010064:Embryo Implantation; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian; D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro; D006801:Humans; D008846:Micromanipulation; D011247:Pregnancy; D011379:Prognosis; D012099:Reproductive Techniques