Spontaneous embryonic loss rates in twin and singleton pregnancies after transfer of top- versus intermediate-quality embryos

Assessment of sperm chromatin condensation and ploidy status using flow cytometry correlates to fertilization, embryo quality and pregnancy following in vitro fertilization

“…The impaired sperm maturation has also been associated with decreased pregnancy rates [35][36][37], failure of embryos to progress to the blastocyst stage in culture [38] and low pregnancy rates after ICSI treatment [29]. Furthermore, the spontaneous abortion rates of our study population, which were similar with those observed in previous studies [39], were increased in cases of semen samples with low percentages of mature spermatozoa. However, no statistical significance was observed in the above association.…”

Limited importance of pre-embryo pronuclear morphology (zygote score) in assisted reproduction outcome in the absence of embryo cryopreservation

“…Italian law now forbids embryo cryopreservation and preimplantation genetic diagnosis, and allows no more than three oocytes to be fertilized at the same time; as a result, all of the embryos obtained in each cycle must be transferred to the uterus, regardless of quality (8). In other terms, in the largest number of cases, a mix of ''good'' and ''not good'' embryos are transferred.…”

“…Until now, various morphologic parameters have been used for embryo scoring systems that correlate with embryo development, based on uniformity of blastomeres, percentage of fragmentation, cytoplasmic irregularities, rate of cleavage, blastomere multinucleation, or various other visible features (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8). New techniques of preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) have provided further information about the relationship between the chromosomal arrangement of the human embryo and its developmental potential (9)(10); unfortunately, these techniques are not cost effective, and they are far from being a component of common clinical practice.…”

“…Our study examined the data from our center in the context of Italian law (N.40/2004), which does not permit embryo cryopreservation or allow more than three embryos to be fertilized at the same time; thus, all embryos obtained in each cycle must be transferred to the uterus, independent of their quality (8).…”

Embryo Quality and Pregnancy Outcome in Infertile Patients with Endometriosis

“…The simplest was to exclude from the study those patients in whom embryos with different quality scores were transferred (La Sala et al, 2005). The main drawback of this approach was a significant reduction of observed cycles, i.e.…”