title: Factors affecting the outcome of human blastocyst vitrification.
abstract: With single blastocyst transfer practice becoming more common in ART, there is a greater demand for a convenient and reliable cryostorage of surplus blastocysts. Vitrification has emerged in the last decade as an alternative promising substitute for slow freezing. Blastocysts represent a unique challenge in cryostorage due to their size, multicellular structure and presence of blastocoele. The continuous acquisition of experience and introduction of many different technological developments has led to the improvement of vitrification as a technology and improved the results of its application in blastocyst cryostorage. The current information concerning safety and efficacy of the vitrification of blastocysts will be reviewed along with the variables that can impact the outcome of the procedure.
authors.affiliation: Center for Reproductive Medicine, Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute, Ob/Gyn and Women's Health Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA. kadera@ccf.org
authors.forename: Amr A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Kader
authors.forename: Audrey
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Yasser
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Orief
authors.forename: Ashok
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Agarwal
mesh_terms: D001755:Blastocyst / Q000166:cytology*; D015925:Cryopreservation / Q000379:methods*; D004624:Embryo Transfer; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D027724:Reproductive Techniques, Assisted; D013997:Time Factors