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The incidence of monozygotic twinning in assisted reproductive technology: Analysis based on results from the 2010 Japanese ART national registry

  • Assisted Reproduction Technologies
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Abstract

Purpose

To assess the incidence of monozygotic twinning (MZT) among cases undergoing assisted reproductive technology (ART) treatment.

Methods

We performed a retrospective observational study and analyzed the data of patients who were registered in the national ART registry system of Japan from January to December 2010; only the data of patients with single embryo transfer (ET) were included.

Results

Of 30,405 pregnancies, 425 resulted in MZT following fresh and frozenthawed ET. The MZT incidence among women undergoing ART was 1.4 %. Multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that cases undergoing fresh and frozen-thawed ET, blastocyst transfer had a significantly increased MZT rate (P < 0.01). Assisted hatching (AH) and frozen-thawed ET and maternal age did not significantly affect the MZT incidence. Of 8510 fresh ET pregnancies, 104 resulted in MZT. Multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that blastocyst transfer significantly increased the MZT rate in cases undergoing fresh ET. Ovarian stimulation, intracytoplasmic sperm injection, AH, and maternal age did not significantly affect the MZT incidence.

Conclusions

Blastocyst transfer was associated with an increased MZT incidence. We have to be aware of the potential risk of MZT caused by blastocyst transfer. However, further studies are required to assess the correlation among specific AH types, embryo culture conditions, and MZT incidence.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank JSOG for providing the data and all the participating clinics in the Japan ART registry for their continuous support in data collection.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Reproductive Medicine, National Center for Child Health and Development, 2-10-1 Okura, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan

    Takashi Nakasuji & Hidekazu Saito

  2. Community Health Science Center, Saitama Medical University, Saitama, Japan

    Ryuichiro Araki

  3. Alba Okinawa Clinic, Okinawa, Japan

    Aritoshi Nakaza, Akira Nakashima & Tetsuro Sakumoto

  4. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, University of Tokushima, Tokushima, Japan

    Akira Kuwahara & Minoru Irahara

  5. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Saitama Medical University, Saitama, Japan

    Osamu Ishihara

  6. Comprehensive Reproductive Medicine, Regulation of Internal Environment and Reproduction, Systemic Organ Regulation, Graduate School, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan

    Takashi Nakasuji & Toshiro Kubota

  7. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan

    Yasunori Yoshimura

Authors
  1. Takashi Nakasuji
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  2. Hidekazu Saito
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  3. Ryuichiro Araki
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  4. Aritoshi Nakaza
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  8. Minoru Irahara
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  9. Toshiro Kubota
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  10. Yasunori Yoshimura
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  11. Tetsuro Sakumoto
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Takashi Nakasuji.

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MZT in ART.

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Nakasuji, T., Saito, H., Araki, R. et al. The incidence of monozygotic twinning in assisted reproductive technology: Analysis based on results from the 2010 Japanese ART national registry. J Assist Reprod Genet 31, 803–807 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-014-0225-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-014-0225-0

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