[Sequential assessment of individually cultured embryos in IVF].
OBJECTIVE
It is a challenge for IVF centers to propose a method to select the most viable embryo to transfer, thereby minimizing the risk of multiple births. In this study, a prospective investigation was made to determine if non-invasive developmental markers on day 1 combined to conventional evaluation on day 2 can predict in vitro blastocyst development.


METHODS
A total of 4190 individually cultured embryos from patients undergoing IVF/ICSI treatment at the Tours University Hospital Center from January 2002 to December 2004 were included. Individual embryos were cultured in sequential media in microdrops under mineral oil from j1 to j5/j6 allowing to record their sequential growth until the blastocyst stage.


RESULTS
The results showed a significant positive relationship between pattern 0 zygote, early cleavage, 4 cells embryos with < 20% fragmentation on day 2 and the rate of blastocyst development on day 5 (P < 0.05). In our hands, zygote pattern does not bring additional benefit to better select embryo.


CONCLUSIONS
Zygote and early cleavage assessments on day 1, morphological appearance on day 2 are some other parameters related individually to blastocyst development on days 5 and 6. These parameters can be used collectively to establish a predictive in vitro sequential embryo assessment model for routine use in IVF clinics.
Guérif
F
F
Laboratoire de médecine et biologie de la reproduction, CHU de Bretonneau, 2, boulevard Tonnelé, 37044 Tours cedex, France. guerif@med.univ-tours.fr
Poindron
J
J
Bidault
R
R
Gasnier
O
O
Cadoret
V
V
Saussereau
M-H
MH
Royère
D
D
D001755:Blastocyst / Q000502:physiology; D003470:Culture Media; D004624:Embryo Transfer; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro; D006801:Humans; D020554:Sperm Injections, Intracytoplasmic; D046509:Tissue Culture Techniques; D015053:Zygote / Q000502:physiology
D003470:Culture Media