title: Transfer of IVF-contaminated blastocysts with removal of the zona pellucida resulted in live births.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Bacterial contamination may cause loss or damage to cultured oocytes or embryos, resulting in cancelation or delaying of a fresh embryo transfer. While live births have been reported following the transfer of embryos contaminated with yeast, very little information is available on how to handle embryos with bacterial contamination. We report two cases of successful pregnancy in patients with bacterial contamination of embryo culture dishes.
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively reviewed 878 oocyte retrievals performed between January 2011 and December 2014. Bacterial contamination was recorded in two split IVF/ICSI cases, where contamination occurred in embryo culture drops containing embryos from conventional insemination but not from ICSI on day 3.
  
  
  RESULTS
  To minimize the adverse effects of bacterial contamination on transfer outcomes, we removed the zona pellucida of contaminated frozen blastocysts and successfully obtained clinical pregnancies following transfer of zona-free blastocysts that were previously contaminated during IVF culture.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Removal of the zona pellucida is an appropriate approach to handle blastocysts contaminated with bacteria during in vitro culture.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Center for Reproductive Medicine, Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, Winston Salem, NC, 27103, USA. shuyimin@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Yimin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shu
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Center for Reproductive Medicine, Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, Winston Salem, NC, 27103, USA.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Prokai
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Center for Reproductive Medicine, Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, Winston Salem, NC, 27103, USA.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Berga
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Center for Reproductive Medicine, Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, Winston Salem, NC, 27103, USA.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Center for Reproductive Medicine, Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, Winston Salem, NC, 27103, USA.
authors.forename: Erika
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Johnston-MacAnanny
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001755:Blastocyst; D004624:Embryo Transfer; D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro; D006801:Humans; D050498:Live Birth; D009865:Oocytes / Q000254:growth & development*; D011247:Pregnancy; D018873:Pregnancy Rate; D020554:Sperm Injections, Intracytoplasmic; D058989:Vitrification; D015044:Zona Pellucida / Q000637:transplantation*
keywords: Bacterial contamination; Blastocysts; In vitro fertilization; Zona pellucida