Pre-Vitrification and Post-Warming Variables of Vitrified-Warmed Blastocysts That Are Predictable for Implantation

Overview

Journal J Clin Med

Specialty General Medicine

Date 2023 Oct 14

PMID 37835035

Authors

Anette Gabrielsen

Lea Hedegaard Iversen

Jens Fedder

Tilde Veng Eskildsen

Anne Lis Englund

Stine Ravn Hansen

Philippe Pinton

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Human IVF embryos that are not used for fresh transfer are cryopreserved by vitrification for later embryo transfers. This study evaluates pre-vitrification and post-warming embryo characteristics that are suitable to predict the chance of clinical pregnancy in single vitrified blastocyst transfer (SVBT) cycles. In a multicenter observational trial (IMBOS trial), embryos were cultured in a time-lapse system before and after vitrification. Associations between clinical pregnancy, morphokinetic parameters, blastocyst collapse, KIDScore D5, pre-vitrification and post-warming Gardner scores, post-warming blastocyst size and re-expansion rates before SVBT were analyzed in 182 SVBTs which resulted in 89 clinical pregnancies. No association was found between clinical pregnancy after SVBT and the number of collapses or the maximal collapse size before vitrification. The multifactorial analysis of pre-vitrification Gardner scores showed a significant association with clinical pregnancy for trophectoderm grading but not for expansion/hatching status and inner cell mass grading. A significant association with clinical pregnancy was found for the time to reach a blastocyst after pronuclear fading (tB-tPNf), KIDScore D5 and post-warming size but not the rate of expansion or maximal expansion size. The selection of blastocysts for SVBT could benefit from using pre-vitrification parameters like tB-tPNf, trophectoderm grading and post-warming blastocyst size.

Citing Articles

Developmental perturbation in human embryos: Clinical and biological significance learned from time-lapse images.

Ezoe K, Takahashi T, Miki T, Kato K Reprod Med Biol. 2024; 23(1):e12593.

PMID: 38983691 PMC: 11232294. DOI: 10.1002/rmb2.12593.

References

Ahlstrom A, Westin C, Wikland M, Hardarson T . Prediction of live birth in frozen-thawed single blastocyst transfer cycles by pre-freeze and post-thaw morphology. Hum Reprod. 2013; 28(5):1199-209. DOI: 10.1093/humrep/det054. View

Findikli N, Oral E . Time-lapse embryo imaging technology: does it improve the clinical results?. Curr Opin Obstet Gynecol. 2014; 26(3):138-44. DOI: 10.1097/GCO.0000000000000072. View

Wennerholm U, Henningsen A, Romundstad L, Bergh C, Pinborg A, Skjaerven R . Perinatal outcomes of children born after frozen-thawed embryo transfer: a Nordic cohort study from the CoNARTaS group. Hum Reprod. 2013; 28(9):2545-53. DOI: 10.1093/humrep/det272. View

Coello A, Meseguer M, Galan A, Alegre L, Remohi J, Cobo A . Analysis of the morphological dynamics of blastocysts after vitrification/warming: defining new predictive variables of implantation. Fertil Steril. 2017; 108(4):659-666.e4. DOI: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2017.07.1157. View

Petersen B, Boel M, Montag M, Gardner D . Development of a generally applicable morphokinetic algorithm capable of predicting the implantation potential of embryos transferred on Day 3. Hum Reprod. 2016; 31(10):2231-44. PMC: 5027927. DOI: 10.1093/humrep/dew188. View

Sciorio R, Thong D, Thong K, Pickering S . Clinical pregnancy is significantly associated with the blastocyst width and area: a time-lapse study. J Assist Reprod Genet. 2021; 38(4):847-855. PMC: 8079521. DOI: 10.1007/s10815-021-02071-x. View

Sciorio R, Meseguer M . Focus on time-lapse analysis: blastocyst collapse and morphometric assessment as new features of embryo viability. Reprod Biomed Online. 2021; 43(5):821-832. DOI: 10.1016/j.rbmo.2021.08.008. View

Hershko-Klement A, Raviv S, Nemerovsky L, Rom T, Itskovich A, Bakhshi D . Standardization of Post-Vitrification Human Blastocyst Expansion as a Tool for Implantation Prediction. J Clin Med. 2022; 11(9). PMC: 9101782. DOI: 10.3390/jcm11092673. View

Kirkegaard K, Ahlstrom A, Ingerslev H, Hardarson T . Choosing the best embryo by time lapse versus standard morphology. Fertil Steril. 2014; 103(2):323-32. DOI: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2014.11.003. View

10.

Ahlstrom A, Westin C, Reismer E, Wikland M, Hardarson T . Trophectoderm morphology: an important parameter for predicting live birth after single blastocyst transfer. Hum Reprod. 2011; 26(12):3289-96. DOI: 10.1093/humrep/der325. View

11.

Giunco H, Connerney M, Boylan C, Koelper N, Mersereau J, Berger D . Embryo re-expansion does not affect clinical pregnancy rates in frozen embryo transfer cycles: a retrospective study. J Assist Reprod Genet. 2021; 38(11):2933-2939. PMC: 8608931. DOI: 10.1007/s10815-021-02319-6. View

12.

Shu Y, Watt J, Gebhardt J, Dasig J, Appling J, Behr B . The value of fast blastocoele re-expansion in the selection of a viable thawed blastocyst for transfer. Fertil Steril. 2008; 91(2):401-6. DOI: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2007.11.083. View

13.

Ueno S, Berntsen J, Ito M, Uchiyama K, Okimura T, Yabuuchi A . Pregnancy prediction performance of an annotation-free embryo scoring system on the basis of deep learning after single vitrified-warmed blastocyst transfer: a single-center large cohort retrospective study. Fertil Steril. 2021; 116(4):1172-1180. DOI: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2021.06.001. View

14.

Zaat T, Zagers M, Mol F, Goddijn M, van Wely M, Mastenbroek S . Fresh versus frozen embryo transfers in assisted reproduction. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2021; 2:CD011184. PMC: 8095009. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD011184.pub3. View

15.

Hammond E, Foong A, Rosli N, Morbeck D . Should we freeze it? Agreement on fate of borderline blastocysts is poor and does not improve with a modified blastocyst grading system. Hum Reprod. 2020; 35(5):1045-1053. DOI: 10.1093/humrep/deaa060. View

16.

Drakopoulos P, Blockeel C, Stoop D, Camus M, De Vos M, Tournaye H . Conventional ovarian stimulation and single embryo transfer for IVF/ICSI. How many oocytes do we need to maximize cumulative live birth rates after utilization of all fresh and frozen embryos?. Hum Reprod. 2016; 31(2):370-6. DOI: 10.1093/humrep/dev316. View

17.

Rezazadeh Valojerdi M, Eftekhari-Yazdi P, Karimian L, Hassani F, Movaghar B . Vitrification versus slow freezing gives excellent survival, post warming embryo morphology and pregnancy outcomes for human cleaved embryos. J Assist Reprod Genet. 2009; 26(6):347-54. PMC: 2729856. DOI: 10.1007/s10815-009-9318-6. View

18.

Gardner D, Schoolcraft W . Culture and transfer of human blastocysts. Curr Opin Obstet Gynecol. 1999; 11(3):307-11. DOI: 10.1097/00001703-199906000-00013. View

19.

Huang T, Chinn K, Kosasa T, Ahn H, Kessel B . Morphokinetics of human blastocyst expansion in vitro. Reprod Biomed Online. 2016; 33(6):659-667. DOI: 10.1016/j.rbmo.2016.08.020. View

20.

Ebner T, Oppelt P, Radler E, Allerstorfer C, Habelsberger A, Mayer R . Morphokinetics of vitrified and warmed blastocysts predicts implantation potential. J Assist Reprod Genet. 2016; 34(2):239-244. PMC: 5306415. DOI: 10.1007/s10815-016-0855-5. View