Effect of ICSI on subsequent blastocyst development and pregnancy rates.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate whether ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection) results in decreased blastocyst formation and pregnancy compared to IVF (in vitro fertilization).


METHODS
We performed a retrospective analysis of blastocyst transfer (BT) offered routinely to patients under age 40 with > or = three 8-cell embryos on day 3 and compared IVF to ICSI cycles. Sequential media were used with P1 until day 3, then Blastocyst Medium until day 5/6.


RESULTS
There were 131 IVF and 75 ICSI cycles. There was no difference in age, number of oocytes, zygotes, 8-cell embryos, blastocysts on days 5 and 6, or embryos transferred. Progression to blastocyst was similar (78% for IVF and 73% for ICSI) as was the viable pregnancy rate (51.4% for IVF and 55% for ICSI). No cycles failed to form blastocysts.


CONCLUSIONS
The progression to blastocyst and the likelihood of conceiving a viable pregnancy were unaltered by ICSI. Thus it seems appropriate for programs to offer BT to patients undergoing ICSI using the same inclusion criteria applied to their IVF patients.
Stanford University School of Medicine, 300 Pasteur Drive, HH333, Stanford, California 94035, USA. lynnw@stanford.edu
Lynn M
LM
Westphal
Mary D
MD
Hinckley
Barry
B
Behr
Amin A
AA
Milki
D000328:Adult; D001755:Blastocyst; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D018873:Pregnancy Rate; D020554:Sperm Injections, Intracytoplasmic