Birth and follow-up of babies born following ICSI using SrCl2 oocyte activation.

This report describes six successful pregnancies (five healthy children from four deliveries and two miscarriages) with SrC1(2) oocyte activation using spermatozoa from nine patients with repeated fertilization failure. Oocytes were artificially activated by SrC1(2) 30 min after intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). Oocytes were placed in 10 mmol/l of SrC1(2) medium for 1 h, rinsed several times, and then cultured in Universal IVF medium. Developmental characteristics of five resulting children until 1 year old were assessed according to the maternal and children health hand book issued by Mothers' and Children's Health Organization in Japan. Mean fertilization rate, mean frequency of good cleaved embryos, pregnancy rate, and implantation rate after artificial activation in nine couples were increased from 21.7 to 64.5% (P < 0.001), from 0 to 15.4%, from 0 to 40.0% and from 0 to 25.0% respectively. Five healthy children were born following ICSI and artificial activation between February 2005 and March 2006. Physical and mental development of the children from birth to 12 months was normal. These suggest the utility and safety of SrCl(2) for patients with repeated failed fertilizations following ICSI and artificial activation.

Seven pregnancies and deliveries from non-mosaic Klinefelter syndrome patients using fresh and frozen testicular sperm.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of using frozen-thawed testicular sperm as well as the timing of testicular sperm extraction (TESE) in patients with non-mosaic Klinefelter syndrome. METHODS: Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) was performed in six of 17 (35%) patients whose sperm was recovered by TESE. Multiple biopsies of both testes were performed on the day of oocyte retrieval in all but one of the six patients. RESULTS: Seven pregnancies and deliveries were achieved in five couples, and one couple was unsuccessful. Five pregnancies were achieved using fresh motile sperm, and two were achieved using frozen-thawed sperm. Sperm cryopreservation was not possible in one of the five couples because of the small number of recovered sperm, and possible in four other couples for subsequent ICSI. One woman whose husband had TESE performed prior to ovarian stimulation did not become pregnant. This may be due to the attainment of only a few immotile sperm following the frozen-thawed procedure. CONCLUSION: The outcome of ICSI using fresh or frozen-thawed testicular sperm in patients with non-mosaic Klinefelter syndrome was identical; however, TESE should be performed on the day of oocyte retrieval until such time as a procedure with a higher sperm yield from TESE is available. Moreover, an improved recovery procedure after cryopreservation-thawing of a single spermatozoon must be developed.

Successful pregnancy and delivery after transfer of a single blastocyst derived from a vitrified mature human oocyte.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the first case of delivery after the transfer of a single blastocyst derived from a vitrified mature human oocyte. DESIGN: Case report. SETTING: Private assisted reproduction clinic. PATIENT(S): A normal 31-year-old woman. INTERVENTION(S): An unsuccessful attempt was made to extract sperm from the patient's nonobstructive azoospermic husband by testicular sperm extraction. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Transfer of single blastocyst derived from vitrified human oocyte and donor sperm. RESULT(S): A healthy male neonate weighing 3000 g was born. CONCLUSION(S): Vitrification is a useful method of preserving mature human oocytes and has the advantage of time-effectiveness, simplicity, cost reduction, and no need for devices such as programmable freezers.