title: Prediction of pregnancy rate by blastocyst morphological score and age, based on 1,488 single frozen-thawed blastocyst transfer cycles.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To present an estimation of the pregnancy rate after IVF or intracytoplasmic sperm injection stratified by blastocyst morphology and age.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective analysis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Private IVF clinic.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 1,488 single frozen-thawed blastocyst transfer cycles.
  
  
  METHODS
  All frozen-thawed blastocysts used in the study were obtained in the patients' first oocytes retrieval cycles.
  
  
  METHODS
  Clinical pregnancy rate (CPR), viable pregnancy rate (VPR), and delivery rate (DR) according to blastocyst morphological score (Gardner and Schoolcraft score) in three different age groups: women aged 22-33 years, 34-37 years, and 38-45 years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The quality of blastocysts degraded as age group increased. The proportions of good-quality blastocysts (grades 4 and above) were 62.3%, 56.3%, and 41.1% in age groups of 22-33 years, 34-37 years, and 38-45 years. Within the same blastocyst quality, CPR, VPR, and DR tended to be lower with increased age. Chances of pregnancy were reduced by 60% or more for women 38 years and older with blastocyst morphology of grades 1 and 2. Significant trends were observed for both age and blastocyst morphology groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There was a significant correlation between blastocyst quality and CPR, VPR, and DR in addition to the influence of age on the three rates. The findings may help predict successful pregnancy in single-blastocyst transfer.
authors.affiliation: Hanabusa Women's Clinic, Kobe, Japan. gotoms@tcn.zaq.ne.jp
authors.forename: Sakae
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Goto
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kadowaki
authors.forename: Satomi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Hiromi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
authors.forename: Shoji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kokeguchi
authors.forename: Masahide
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shiotani
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D015925:Cryopreservation; D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009865:Oocytes / Q000166:cytology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011247:Pregnancy; D018873:Pregnancy Rate; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D056826:Single Embryo Transfer / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult