Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF ) Freely available
Right arrow An erratum has been published
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (7)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Zikopoulos, K.
Right arrow Articles by Devroey, P.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Zikopoulos, K.
Right arrow Articles by Devroey, P.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Human Reproduction, Vol. 19, No. 2, 325-327, February 2004
© 2004 European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology

Quintuplet pregnancy following transfer of two blastocysts: Case report

Konstantinos Zikopoulos, Peter Platteau, Efstratios Kolibianakis1, Carola Albano, Andre Van Steirteghem and Paul Devroey

Centre for Reproductive Medicine, Dutch-Speaking Brussels Free University, Laarbeeklaan 101, 1090 Brussels, Belgium

1 To whom correspondence should be addressed. e-mail: stratis{at}easynet.be

A 36-year-old single woman presented at the out-patient clinic in March 2000 requesting donor insemination. Between May 2000 and May 2001 she underwent six cycles of intrauterine insemination with donor sperm after clomiphene citrate stimulation without achieving a pregnancy. In January 2002, ICSI was performed; two embryos were transferred on day 3 and a dizygotic bichorionic pregnancy was achieved, which ended in a miscarriage at 21 weeks of gestation. After a second unsuccessful ICSI attempt in which a single embryo transfer was performed, she embarked upon her third attempt in March 2003 at 39 years of age. Two blastocysts were transferred after ICSI, resulting in a quintuplet gestation consisting of a monochorionic biamniotic pregnancy and a monochorionic triamniotic pregnancy. The current case report indicates that monozygotic pregnancies consisting of both twins and triplets are possible after treatment by assisted reproductive technologies. An association between extended culture, manipulation of the zona pellucida, ovarian stimulation and occurrence of monozygotic pregnancies has been suggested by retrospective studies. However, in order to identify more reliably predictive factors for the occurrence of monozygotic pregnancies, it is necessary to perform prospective trials.

Key words: assisted reproduction/ICSI/monozygotic triplets/monozygotic twins


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Hum ReprodHome page
E.M. Kolibianakis, K. Zikopoulos, W. Verpoest, M. Camus, H. Joris, A.C. Van Steirteghem, and P. Devroey
Should we advise patients undergoing IVF to start a cycle leading to a day 3 or a day 5 transfer?
Hum. Reprod., November 1, 2004; 19(11): 2550 - 2554.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.