First successful delivery in Texas using vitrified human oocytes: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Successful pregnancies from cryopreserved oocytes are rare, but oocyte vitrification holds great promise for women in need of preserving their fertility due to illnesses that require treatments such as chemotherapy or radiation which cause irreversible depletion of ovarian reserve. The technique may also eventually be beneficial to women who wish to delay pregnancy to pursue educational and professional goals. Attempts at oocyte cryopreservation have until recently been quite disappointing due to three main problems: (1) high water content and intracellular ice crystal formation upon freezing and subsequent meiotic spindle damage, (2) zona pellucida hardening during cryopreservation and thus difficulty with subsequent fertilization and (3) the relatively large size of the cell and thus an unfavorable surface-to-volume ratio for equilibrium of solutes. These roadblocks have been gradually overcome by the use of improved cryoprotectants, intracytoplasmic sperm injection for fertilization, and the replacement of sodium in freezing media with an osmolyte. The net effect has been a substantial increase in oocyte survival and viability after cryopreservation. CASE: We report the first live births in Texas using vitrified oocytes. CONCLUSION: Vitrification may serve as a useful tool in the preservation of oocytes for women who wish to delay child bearing for medical or social reasons.

Decreased progesterone receptor expression in the intermediate trophoblastic cells of spontaneous abortions.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether there are differences in the expression of progesterone receptor (PR) in intermediate trophoblastic cells of pregnancies ending in either spontaneous abortion (SAB) or elective abortion. DESIGN: Immunohistochemical identification of PR in intermediate trophoblastic cells. SETTING: Academic medical center. PATIENT(S): Subjects were 86 patients who either underwent first trimester SAB or elective abortion. INTERVENTION(S): All SAB and elective abortion specimens were serially sectioned and immunohistochemically stained for PR and for melanoma cell adhesion molecule. Melanoma cell adhesion molecule immunohistochemical staining was used as a sensitive and specific marker to identify intermediate trophoblastic cells on the adjacent tissue section. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): The PR staining of intermediate trophoblastic cells by semiquantitative immunostaining score. RESULT(S): The PR expression in intermediate trophoblastic cells was significantly greater in elective abortion specimens than in SAB specimens. When controlling for estimated gestational age, the difference in PR expression was even greater. CONCLUSION(S): The quantity of PR in intermediate trophoblastic cells is significantly less in SAB when compared to elective abortion pregnancies. Although it is unknown whether this is a primary or secondary event, this information may be an important finding in attempting to characterize both the molecular etiology of implantation and the molecular pathophysiology of SAB.

Impact of endometriosis on implantation. Data from the Wilford Hall Medical Center IVF-ET Program.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of endometriosis on implantation. STUDY DESIGN: In a retrospective cohort study, 149 consecutive in vitro fertilization retrieved cycles were analyzed. Patients with endometriosis (n = 27, 31 cycles) were compared with a control group with tubal infertility (n = 104, 118 cycles). The main outcome measure was implantation rate (gestational sac per transferred embryo). RESULTS: The patients in the tubal infertility group were slightly younger and tended to have a better response to stimulation and increased number of oocytes retrieved than did the patients in the endometriosis group; however, there were no differences in fertilization rates, number of embryos transferred or clinical pregnancy rates per cycle between the endometriosis group and tubal infertility group. The overall clinical pregnancy rate per cycle was similar for women in the endometriosis and tubal infertility groups (54.8% and 55.1%, respectively). The implantation rate was not different in the endometriosis versus tubal infertility group (28% [28/100] and 29.8%, [108/363], respectively; P = .75, relative risk = .94, 95% confidence interval .66, 1.34). CONCLUSION: For women undergoing in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer with endometriosis, the implantation rate is not markedly different from that for women undergoing in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer with tubal infertility.

Clinically recognizable error rate after the transfer of comprehensive chromosomal screened euploid embryos is low.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the clinically recognizable error rate with the use of quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR)-based comprehensive chromosomal screening (CCS). DESIGN: Retrospective study. SETTING: Multiple fertility centers. PATIENT(S): All patients receiving euploid designated embryos. INTERVENTION(S): Trophectoderm biopsy for CCS. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Evaluation of the pregnancy outcomes following the transfer of qPCR-designated euploid embryos. Calculation of the clinically recognizable error rate. RESULT(S): A total of 3,168 transfers led to 2,354 pregnancies (74.3%). Of 4,794 CCS euploid embryos transferred, 2,976 gestational sacs developed, reflecting a clinical implantation rate of 62.1%. In the cases where a miscarriage occurred and products of conception were available for analysis, ten were ultimately found to be aneuploid. Seven were identified in the products of conception following clinical losses and three in ongoing pregnancies. The clinically recognizable error rate per embryo designated as euploid was 0.21% (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.10-0.37). The clinically recognizable error rate per transfer was 0.32% (95% CI 0.16-0.56). The clinically recognizable error rate per ongoing pregnancy was 0.13% (95% CI 0.03-0.37). Three products of conception from aneuploid losses were available to the molecular laboratory for detailed examination, and all of them demonstrated fetal mosaicism. CONCLUSION(S): The clinically recognizable error rate with qPCR-based CCS is real but quite low. Although evaluated in only a limited number of specimens, mosaicism appears to play a prominent role in misdiagnoses. Mosaic errors present a genuine limit to the effectiveness of aneuploidy screening, because they are not attributable to technical issues in the embryology or analytic laboratories.

Can the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology Clinic Outcome Reporting System (SART CORS) be used to accurately report clinic total reproductive potential (TRP)?

OBJECTIVE: To assess whether total reproductive potential (TRP), the chance of a live birth from each fresh cycle (fresh cycle plus frozen transfers), could be calculated from the national Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology Clinic Outcome Reporting System (SART CORS) database and whether information not available in SART CORS resulted in significant changes to the TRP calculation. DESIGN: Retrospective study using SART CORS and clinic data. SETTING: Three assisted reproductive technology clinics. PATIENT(S): Women undergoing ART. INTERVENTION(S): None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Two- and three-year TRPs for 2005 and 2006 were calculated according to patient age at cycle start by linking fresh to frozen cycles up to first live birth. Clinic records were used to adjust for (remove) frozen cycles that used more than one fresh cycle as a source of embryos and for any embryos donated to other patients or research or shipped to another facility before a live birth. RESULT(S): TRP was higher than fresh per-cycle rates for most ages at all clinics, although accuracy was compromised when there were fewer than 20 cycles per category. Two- and 3-year TRPs differed in only 2 of 24 calculations. Adjusted TRPs differed less than three percentage points from unadjusted TRPs when volume was sufficient. CONCLUSION(S): Clinic TRP can be calculated from SART CORS. Data suggest that calculations of clinic TRP from the national dataset would be meaningful.