Reinsemination by intracytoplasmic sperm injection of 1-day-old oocytes after complete conventional fertilization failure.
OBJECTIVE
To analyze the efficacy of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) for "rescue" of failed conventional insemination cycles.


METHODS
Retrospective clinical study.


METHODS
Private infertility clinic.


METHODS
Fifty-four couples with non-male factor infertility undergoing routine IVF within our clinic.


METHODS
Twenty- to 24-hour-old unfertilized mature oocytes from conventional IVF cycles in which fertilization failure was complete were reinseminated by ICSI to attempt late fertilization and rescue of the otherwise failed IVF cycle.


METHODS
Late fertilization, pregnancy, and embryonic implantation.


RESULTS
Intracytoplasmic sperm injection reinsemination of 489 unfertilized mature oocytes caused degeneration in 50 (10.2%) oocytes, gave rise to normal fertilization in 215 (44.0%) of the injected oocytes, and allowed ET in 48 of the 54 cycles in which initial complete fertilization failure had occurred. One hundred sixty-four (76.3%) of 215 late-fertilized oocytes either were used for fresh transfer or were frozen-stored. Eight viable pregnancies resulted, yielding a 14.8% pregnancy rate per initiated cycle.


CONCLUSIONS
Barring potential concerns regarding the chromosomal normality of embryos arising from reinsemination, our results suggest that ICSI is a relatively successful means of rescuing conventional IVF cycles in which fertilization fails completely.
Morton
P C
PC
Reproductive Biology Associates, Atlanta, Georgia 30342, USA.
Yoder
C S
CS
Tucker
M J
MJ
Wright
G
G
Brockman
W D
WD
Kort
H I
HI
D000328:Adult; D003593:Cytoplasm; D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro; D006801:Humans; D007267:Injections; D007317:Insemination, Artificial, Homologous; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013094:Spermatozoa