A comparative study between cleavage stage embryo transfer at day 3 and blastocyst stage transfer at day 5 in in-vitro fertilization/intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection on clinical pregnancy rates.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the efficacy of blastocyst transfer in comparison with cleavage stage transfer.


METHODS
A randomized, prospective study was conducted in Infertility clinic, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Mahatma Gandhi Hospital, Jaipur on 300 patients aged 25-40 years undergoing in-vitro fertilization (IVF)/intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycle from May 2010-April 2011. When three or more Grade-I embryos were observed on day 2 of culture, patients were divided randomly into two study groups, cleavage stage transfer and blastocyst transfer group having 150 patients each. Primary outcomes evaluated were, Clinical pregnancy rate and Implantation rate. The results were analyzed using proportions, standard deviation and Chi-square test.


RESULTS
Both the groups were similar for age, indication and number of embryos transferred. Clinical pregnancies after blastocyst transfer were significantly higher 66 (44.0%) compared to cleavage stage embryo transfer 44 (29.33%) (P < 0.01). Implantation rate for blastocyst transfer group was also significantly higher (P < 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
Blastocyst transfer having higher implantation rate and clinical pregnancy rate lead to reduction in multiple pregnancies.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Hospital, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India.
Prabhleen
P
Kaur
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Hospital, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India.
M L
ML
Swarankar
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Hospital, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India.
Manju
M
Maheshwari
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Hospital, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India.
Veena
V
Acharya
Blastocyst transfer; clinical pregnancy rates; embryo transfer; in-vitro fertilization; intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection