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1: J Assist Reprod Genet. 2001 Oct;18(10):548-50.Click here to read Links

The prognostic significance of day 3 embryo cleavage stage on subsequent blastocyst development in a sequential culture system.

Boostanfar R, Jain JK, Slater CC, Tourgeman DE, Francis MM, Paulson RJ.

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Women's and Children's Hospital, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California 90033, USA. drboostanfar@hotmail.com

PURPOSE: To determine prognostic significance of blastomere number on Day 3 of culture upon subsequent blastocyst (BL) development. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted in 37 IVF subjects undergoing standard protocols and BL transfer after sequential embryo culture in P1 and BL media. RESULTS: Of Day 3 embryos containing 7 or more blastomeres, 68.9% (186/270) developed into BL compared to embryos containing 4-6 blastomeres, 38.1% (56/147), P < 0.0001. The majority of BL, 68.9% (168/244), were observed on Day 5. Extended Day 6 culture represented 31.1% (76/244) of all BLs. CONCLUSIONS: The observation of 7 or more blastomeres on Day 3 yielded a significantly greater likelihood of BL development. Embryos containing 4-6 blastomeres are still relatively likely to progress to a BL. Extended culture to Day 6 still yields a significant proportion of BL. Cell cleavage stage on Day 3 appears to be a useful prognostic indicator of subsequent BL development.

PMID: 11702768 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]