RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: Despite technical progress in In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) procedure, embryo implantation rate remains low. Assisted hatching has been proposed to facilitate natural embryo hatching and implantation. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Our study has evaluated whether laser assisted hatching improves implantation, pregnancy and live birth rates in different cases. We studied retrospectively 143 IVF cycles concerning more than 38 years old women, 166 IVF cycles after two previous implantation failures and 180 frozen-thawed embryo transfers. RESULTS: Population characteristics were comparable in hatched and control groups. Implantation, pregnancy and live birth rates in women more than 38 years old were comparable with or without assisted hatching. Concerning repeated implantation failures, even if implantation, pregnancy and live birth rates were higher in assisted hatching group (FIV or ICSI), the differences were not significant. After frozen-thawed embryo transfers, implantation rate was significantly better with assisted hatching (19.14% vs 8.84% [p=0.02]). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Assisted hatching improves embryo implantation rate after frozen-thawed embryo transfer.