title: Prediction of in-vitro developmental competence of early cleavage-stage mouse embryos with compact time-lapse equipment.
abstract: Single blastocyst transfer is regarded as an efficient way to achieve high pregnancy rates and to avoid multiple pregnancies. Risk of cancellation of transfer due to a lack of available embryos may be reduced by early prediction of blastocyst development. Time-lapse investigation of mouse embryos shows that the time of the first and second cleavage (to the 2- and 3-cell stages, respectively) has a strong predictive value for further development in vitro, while cleavage from the 3-cell to the 4-cell stage has no predictive value. In humans, embryo fragmentation during preimplantation development has been associated with lower pregnancy rates and a higher incidence of developmental abnormalities. Analysis of time-lapse records shows that most fragmentation is reversible in the mouse and is resorbed in an average of 9 h. Daily or bi-daily microscopic checks of embryo development, applied routinely in human IVF laboratories, would fail to detect 36 or 72% of these fragmentations, respectively. Fragmentation occurring in a defined time frame has a strong predictive value for in-vitro embryo development. The practical compact system used in the present trial, based on the 'one camera per patient' principle, has eliminated the usual disadvantages of time-lapse investigations and is applicable for the routine follow-up of in-vitro embryo development.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Szent István University, István u. 2, Budapest 1078, Hungary. pribenszky.csaba@aotk.szie.hu
authors.forename: Csaba
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pribenszky
authors.forename: Eszter
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Losonczi
authors.forename: Miklós
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Molnár
authors.forename: Zsolt
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Lang
authors.forename: Szabolcs
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mátyás
authors.forename: Klára
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rajczy
authors.forename: Katalin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Molnár
authors.forename: Péter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kovács
authors.forename: Péter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nagy
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Conceicao
authors.forename: Gábor
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Vajta
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D046149:Embryo Culture Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation; D004624:Embryo Transfer / Q000379:methods*; D047108:Embryonic Development; D005260:Female; D051379:Mice; D010781:Photography / Q000295:instrumentation*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011247:Pregnancy