title: The effect of blastomere number on embryo survival upon freezing/thawing.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine if the blastomere number of embryos at the time of freezing is related to its quality post-thaw.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective cohort analysis of frozen/thawed embryos. Only multi-cell embryos were used for this study. If an embryo was of good quality it would either be transferred or re-frozen.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There did not appear to be any trend for a lower percentage of good quality embryos with fewer numbers of blastomeres.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Though 4-cell embryos have a markedly lower implantation potential upon fresh embryo transfer compared to 6-8-cell embryos, this is not reflected in their ability to survive freeze-thawing.
authors.affiliation: The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School at Camden, Cooper Hospital/University Medical Center, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Division of Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility, Camden, NJ, USA. laurie@ccivf.com
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Check
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Horwath
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Summers-Chase
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Swenson
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Levito
mesh_terms: D001757:Blastomeres; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015925:Cryopreservation; D006801:Humans; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis