title: Artificial shrinkage of blastocoel using a laser pulse prior to vitrification improves clinical outcome.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Blastocysts contain a large amount of fluid in the blastocoel, which may pose a risk for ice crystal formation during vitrification. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of laser-induced artificial shrinkage of blastocoel before vitrification on clinical outcome.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients were divided into two groups: a control group with untreated, expanded blastocysts (n = 115) and a study group with blastocoel artificially eliminated by a laser pulse prior to vitrification (n = 309). Blastocyst survival, clinical pregnancy, and implantation rates were compared.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The survival rate was significantly higher in the study group compared with the control group (97.3 and 74.9 %, respectively; p > 0.01). The clinical pregnancy and implantation rates of the study group were significantly higher (p < 0.01) than that of the control group (clinical pregnancy, 67.2 vs. 41.1 %; implantation, 39.1 vs. 24.5 %.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study demonstrated that the removal of blastocoel fluid before vitrification by laser pulse of in vitro-produced human blastocysts significantly improves blastocyst survival, clinical pregnancy, and implantation rates.
authors: TopLab Company for ART Laboratories Consultations and Training, Ground floor, 27 Zohair Sabry st., 1st district, Nasr City, Cairo, Egypt.
authors: Ehab
authors: E
authors: Darwish
authors: TopLab Company for ART Laboratories Consultations and Training, Ground floor, 27 Zohair Sabry st., 1st district, Nasr City, Cairo, Egypt. Yas.magdi@hotmail.com.
authors: Yasmin
authors: Y
authors: Magdi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001755:Blastocyst / Q000473:pathology; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000502:physiology; D015925:Cryopreservation; D010064:Embryo Implantation / Q000502:physiology; D004624:Embryo Transfer / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007834:Lasers; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D027724:Reproductive Techniques, Assisted; D058989:Vitrification
keywords: Artificial shrinkage; Blastocoel; Blastocyst; Collapse; Laser-pulse; Vitrification