ARTIFICIAL OOCYTE ACTIVATION IMPROVES THE LABORATORY AND CLINICAL OUTCOME IN VITRIFIED DONOR OOCYTE GROUP

Abstract

Introduction: Oocyte donation is proved effective. Vitrification of donor eggs allows creation of donor egg banking. Simultaneously, for good clinical outcome it is recommended to thaw 10-15 oocytes at once. In the current study, we demonstrate the benefit of using artificial oocyte activation in order to reduce the number of thawed donor eggs for IVF program without any affect on laboratory and clinical outcome. Aim of study: To improve the good quality blastocyst formation rate using artificial activation with vitrified donor eggs. Is it possible to increase the clinical pregnancy rate (CPR) and live birth rate (LBR) thawing only 6-8 donor eggs? Materials and Methods: The retrospective cohort studyincluded 40 fresh (Group A) and 12 vitrified (Group B) donor egg programs. ICSI was conducted to all oocytes. In Group B, we also used artificial oocyte activation with calcium ionophore. Student T test was used to infer statistical significance. P value < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: The fertilization and good quality blastocyst formation rate is not different between the groups. The majority of usable blastocysts, 72% in Group A and 93% in Group B were formed on Day 5. The CPR is not statistically different between groups A and B and is 52.5% and 50% respectively. The IR is not statistically significant and is 39% in Group A and 42% in Group B. The LBR is higher in Group A (50%) comparing to Group B (25%), but the difference is not statistically significant. Conclusions: Considering our data, we suggest that artificial oocyte activation is feasible for use with vitrified donor eggs. It might decrease the expenses of patients on thawing less number of donor oocytes without negative impact on the laboratory and clinical outcome.