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Should ICSI be recommended routinely in patients with four or fewer oocytes retrieved?

  • ASSISTED REPRODUCTION TECHNOLOGIES
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Abstract

Purpose

To determine if patients with a low response to controlled ovarian hyperstimulation during IVF benefit from intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI)

Methods

Retrospective analysis of 350 IVF cycles in which four or fewer oocytes were retrieved. Severe male factor cases were excluded from analysis. Conventional insemination (CI) and ICSI were compared, with primary outcome measures of fertilization rate, implantation rate, clinical pregnancy rate per embryo transfer, and pregnancy loss rate.

Result(s)

Fertilization rates per oocyte retrieved for CI and ICSI were comparable (51.5% vs. 51.8%). Parallel implantation rates (22% vs. 25%), clinical pregnancy rates (32.8% vs. 33.3%), and loss rates (26.7% vs. 39.5%) were also noted. No difference in cancelled cycles was reported.

Conclusion(s)

Our results demonstrate that in the presence of normal semen parameters, low egg number is not an indication to perform ICSI.

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Disclosures

The authors report no financial conflicts of interest or financial support for this research.

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Correspondence to Alan B. Copperman.

Additional information

Capsule In the presence of normal semen parameters, low response to ovarian hyperstimulation is not an indication to perform ICSI over conventional insemination.

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Luna, M., Bigelow, C., Duke, M. et al. Should ICSI be recommended routinely in patients with four or fewer oocytes retrieved?. J Assist Reprod Genet 28, 911–915 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-011-9614-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-011-9614-9

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