Hum. Reprod. Advance Access originally published online on July 8, 2004
Human Reproduction 2004 19(9):2097-2102; doi:10.1093/humrep/deh398
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Pregnancy outcome after blastocyst transfer as compared to early cleavage stage embryo transfer
1 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, 2 Institute for Reproductive Medicine and Endocrinology, Bregenz and 3 Institute for Biostatistics and Documentation, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
4 To whom corresondence should be addressed at: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Innsbruck, Anichstrasse 35, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria. Tel: +43 512 504 3051; Fax: +43 512 504 3055; Email: peter.schwarzler{at}uibk.ac.at
BACKGROUND: Retrospective cohort study to evaluate differences in outcome when embryo transfer was performed either on day 2–3 (cleavage stage, CS-group) or on day 4–5 (blastocyst stage, BS-group). METHODS: A total of 1259 consecutive cycles yielding 500 live born babies performed at a single centre in Bregenz, Austria, were included. Main outcome measures were implantation and (multiple) pregnancy rates and neonatal outcome including birth defects. RESULTS: Total Pregnancy rate was 44% vs 28% (P<0.001) and the total ‘take home baby rate’ was 37% vs 22% in the BS-group and the CS-group, respectively. Rate of multiple gestations (34% vs 17%, P=0.001) was significantly higher among the BS-group, resulting in a higher rate of preterm deliveries <36 weeks (26% vs 17%, P=0.045). Female factor causing infertility (40% vs 21%, P<0.001) was significantly higher among the BS-group. For the CS-group, rate of singleton pregnancies (83% vs 66%, P=0.001) and idiopathic cause of infertility (34% vs 22%, P=0.012) were significantly higher. No statistically significant differences were found in sex, Caesarean section rate, Apgar score and umbilical artery pH-values, total mean birth weight, admission rate to intensive care unit, days of hospitalization and number of minor and major birth defects. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that blastocyst transfer may lead to a higher pregnancy rate with an overall better take-home baby rate (THBR) at the cost of higher rates of multiples and preterm deliveries.
Key words: ART/birth defect/blastocyst transfer/early cleavage stage/pregnancy outcome
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  M. Montag and H. van der Ven Pregnancy outcome after blastocyst transfer as compared to early cleavage stage embryo transfer Hum. Reprod., June 1, 2005; 20(6): 1746 - 1747. [Full Text] [PDF]
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