Incidence of monozygotic twins in blastocyst and cleavage stage assisted reproductive technology cycles.
OBJECTIVE
To study the incidence of monozygotic twins (MZT) in blastocyst and cleavage stage ET.


METHODS
Retrospective review.


METHODS
Four hundred ninety-six women undergoing IVF/intracytoplasmic sperm injection cycles at a private assisted reproductive technology (ART) center.


METHODS
Patients undergoing ART were divided according to the stage of ET into blastocyst transfer (BT) and cleavage stage (CS) ET.


METHODS
Incidence of MZT as noted on vaginal ultrasound at 6 to 8 weeks.


RESULTS
There were 374 (75.4%) BT cycles, and 122 (24.6%) CS cycles. Women in the BT group were significantly younger, had more oocytes retrieved, and had less embryos transferred compared with the CS group. The clinical pregnancy rate was significantly higher in the BT group at 67.9% (254 of 374), compared with 37.7% (46 of 122) among the CS group. There was a significantly higher incidence of multiple gestation in the BT group compared with CS group (37.4% compared with 19.6%). The overall incidence of MZT was 1.3%, but differed with the stage of ET: the incidence of MZT was 1.57% (4 of 254) in the BT group, and 0 (0 of 46) in the CS group.


CONCLUSIONS
Contrary to the older published literature on MZT in BT cycles, the incidence of MZT is low. Women undergoing ART therefore should not be discouraged to undergo BT for fear of MZT, especially in light of the higher pregnancy rate and lower number of transferred embryos noted in those cycles compared with cleavage stage transfers.
Sharara
Fady I
FI
Virginia Center for Reproductive Medicine, 11150 Sunset Hills Road, Suite 100, Reston, VA 20190, USA. fsharara@vcrmed.com
Abdo
Galal
G
D000328:Adult; D001755:Blastocyst / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015925:Cryopreservation / Q000379:methods*; D010064:Embryo Implantation / Q000502:physiology*; D004624:Embryo Transfer / Q000379:methods*; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005640:Follicle Stimulating Hormone / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D007315:Insemination, Artificial; D007986:Luteinizing Hormone / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011374:Progesterone / Q000097:blood; D027724:Reproductive Techniques, Assisted / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D020554:Sperm Injections, Intracytoplasmic / Q000379:methods; D014430:Twins, Monozygotic / Q000502:physiology*
D011374:Progesterone; D007986:Luteinizing Hormone; D005640:Follicle Stimulating Hormone