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Prediction of embryo implantation rate using a sole parameter of timing of starting blastulation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 February 2022

Elena Soukhov ,
Gilad Karavani Open the ORCID record for Gilad Karavani [Opens in a new window] ,
Irit Szaingurten-Solodkin ,
Samira Alfayumi-Zeadna ,
Guy Elharar ,
Dganit Richter ,
Tamar Wainstock ,
Atif Zeadna ,
Eliahu Levitas  and
Iris Har-Vardi
Elena Soukhov
Affiliation:
Medical School for International Health, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be’er Sheva, Israel
Gilad Karavani*
Affiliation:
Infertility and IVF Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hadassah Ein-Kerem Medical Center and Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Irit Szaingurten-Solodkin
Affiliation:
Fertility and IVF Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Soroka University Medical Center Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be’er Sheva, Israel
Samira Alfayumi-Zeadna
Affiliation:
Department of Public Health, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be’er Sheva, Israel
Guy Elharar
Affiliation:
Fertility and IVF Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Soroka University Medical Center Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be’er Sheva, Israel
Dganit Richter
Affiliation:
Fertility and IVF Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Soroka University Medical Center Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be’er Sheva, Israel
Tamar Wainstock
Affiliation:
Department of Public Health, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be’er Sheva, Israel
Atif Zeadna
Affiliation:
Fertility and IVF Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Soroka University Medical Center Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be’er Sheva, Israel
Eliahu Levitas
Affiliation:
Fertility and IVF Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Soroka University Medical Center Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be’er Sheva, Israel
Iris Har-Vardi
Affiliation:
Fertility and IVF Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Soroka University Medical Center Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be’er Sheva, Israel
*
Authors for correspondence: Gilad Karavani. IVF Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hadassah University Hospital, Ein-Kerem, Jerusalem, Israel. Tel: +972 542065339. Fax: +972 26776413. E-mail: giladk84@gmail.com
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Summary

A time-lapse monitoring system provides a complete picture of the dynamic embryonic development process and simultaneously supplies extensive morphokinetic data. The objective of this study was to investigate whether the use of the morphokinetic parameter of time of starting blastulation (tSB) can improve the implantation rate of day-5 transferred blastocyst selected based on morphological parameters. In this retrospective study we analyzed the morphokinetics of 196 day-5 transferred blastocysts, selected solely based on morphological parameters. The interval time from intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) to time of starting blastocyst formation (tSB) was calculated for each embryo. The overall implantation rate of transferred blastocyst, selected based only on morphological parameters, was 49.2%. Implantation rate, determined retrospectively, was significantly higher (58.8% versus 42.6%, P = 0.02) for embryos with a short interval time to tSB (78–95.9 h) compared with embryos with a longer timeframe (96–114 h). Time of expanded blastocyst (tEB) post-ICSI was also significantly associated with implantation; however, this parameter was not available for all the embryos at time of transfer. When we tested only high ranked KIDScore day-3 sub-group embryos, the implantation rate was significantly higher in short interval time embryos compared with longer interval time embryos (62.2% vs. 45.5%, respectively, P = 0.02).

These observations emphasize the importance of the timing of starting blastulation over blastocyst morphological parameters and may provide a preferable criterion for good morphology day-5 blastocyst selection.

Keywords

BlastocystEmbryo selectionKIDScoreMorphokineticsStarting time of blastulation
Type
Research Article
Information
Zygote , Volume 30 , Issue 4 , August 2022 , pp. 501 - 508
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

*

These authors contributed equally to this work.

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