title: Does culture medium influence offspring birth weight?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether the type of medium used to culture human embryos in vitro influences neonatal birth weight after IVF/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective study and a retrospective study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Private assisted reproduction center.
  
  
  METHODS
  The prospective study included 449 IVF/ICSI cycles from August to December 2008. The retrospective analysis was performed for 2,518 IVF/ICSI cycles from October 2006 to December 2010.
  
  
  METHODS
  In the prospective study, patients were randomized for embryo culture in Cook or Vitrolife medium. The retrospective study was performed with three different culture media (MediCult, Cook, and Vitrolife).
  
  
  METHODS
  Mean birth weight, adjusted for gestational age and gender (z score) of newborns.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the prospective study, the average z score was -0.19 ± 0.85 in Cook and 0.08 ± 1.40 in Vitrolife. In the retrospective study, the z scores obtained in each group were as follows: Cook, -0.14 ± 0.96; MediCult, 0.06 ± 1.13; and Vitrolife, 0.03 ± 1.05. No significant differences were observed regarding the birth weight of children born in the different groups in both studies.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results do not show any relationship between the medium used for in vitro culture and mean birth weight adjusted for gestational age and gender of singletons born after IVF/ICSI.
authors.affiliation: Reproductive Medicine Service, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproduction, Hospital Universitari Quirón Dexeus, Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: beacar@dexeus.com.
authors.forename: Beatriz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Carrasco
authors.forename: Montserrat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Boada
authors.forename: Ignacio
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Rodríguez
authors.forename: Buenaventura
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Coroleu
authors.forename: Pedro N
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Barri
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Veiga
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001724:Birth Weight; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003470:Culture Media / Q000737:chemistry*; D046149:Embryo Culture Techniques; D004624:Embryo Transfer; D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro / Q000379:methods; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016014:Linear Models; D050498:Live Birth; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors; D013030:Spain; D020554:Sperm Injections, Intracytoplasmic; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media
keywords: IVF/ICSI; birth weight; embryo culture medium; perinatal outcome