title: Intracytoplasmic sperm injection into zona-free human oocytes results in normal fertilization and blastocyst development.
abstract: Zona-free human oocytes are frequently encountered in in-vitro fertilization (IVF) laboratories. The oocytes escape out of the zona pellucida, following zona fracture, which can occur during oocyte retrieval or manipulation, but occasionally may be the result of increased zona fragility. Some of the zona-free oocytes are mature and morphologically healthy; nevertheless, all are typically discarded. In this report, we demonstrate that zona-free oocytes can be fertilized normally using intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and can subsequently develop without zona to the blastocyst stage in vitro. We therefore suggest that those mature and morphologically normal zona-free oocytes may be rescued, fertilized with ICSI and then cultured to the blastocyst stage for subsequent transfer or cryopreservation.
authors: Oak Brook Fertility Center, Illinois 60523, USA.
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Ding
authors: N
authors: N
authors: Rana
authors: W P
authors: WP
authors: Dmowski
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001755:Blastocyst / Q000502:physiology; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000502:physiology; D005314:Embryonic and Fetal Development / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005306:Fertilization / Q000502:physiology; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008846:Micromanipulation; D009865:Oocytes / Q000502:physiology*; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000502:physiology; D015044:Zona Pellucida / Q000502:physiology