Failed fertilization after ICSI: causes and countermeasures / 中华男科学杂志

ABSTRACT

As a new technique for IVF, ICSI has a high rate of monospermy but cannot prevent all fertilization failures, of which the possible causes are poor oocytes or sperm, abnormal oocyte activation, and ICSI technical problems. Controlled ovarian hyperstimulation during IVF could increase the apoptosis of oocytes and subsequently induce fertilization failure. There are several methods for artificial activation in case of oocyte activation failure. Sperm-induced fertilization failure is mostly due to minute malformation of sperm, for which morphologically selective ICSI is generally employed. However, totally failed fertilization after ICSI remains a real challenge.