MedPath

A Time-lapse Monitoring Prospective Study

Active, not recruiting
Conditions
Aneuploidy
Infertility
Interventions
Behavioral: media refreshment
Behavioral: embryo grading
Registration Number
NCT04901247
Lead Sponsor
ART Fertility Clinics LLC
Brief Summary

While numerous types of commercially available human embryo culture media exist for human blastocyst culture, the impact of culture conditions on blastocyst development and aneuploidy formation is not fully understood. Culture conditions are very important for the success of the in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycle, many of the factors involved in the process have been extensively studied. However, none of the studies investigated the effect on euploid rate in a sibling oocyte design with preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy (PGT-A), which requires culture till day 7. In addition, the clinical outcome (implantation) will be investigated in a frozen cycle regimen. Hence, the study will explore which day of media refreshment will result in higher rate of ploidy and would improve clinical outcomes. Investigators aim at exploring the best practice, that would empower the euploid rate through the comparison of refreshing the single-step medium on day 3 or day 5 in a sibling oocyte prospective design.

Detailed Description

The use of extended embryo culture to the blastocyst stage and PGT-A has enabled identification and selection of embryos with the best developmental potential and improved IVF clinical outcomes. It is considered a routine practice to grade the embryos on day 3 of development, which will require disturbing the culture conditions by annotating the embryos using inverted microscopes. However, the application of Time-lapse technology (TLS) allows annotating the embryos on day 3 without interrupting the culture conditions, especially if TLS is combined with single-step culture medium.

There are several culture factors that can affect embryo development, such as the pH, which is controlled through the concentration of CO2, and also the osmolality, which is the concentration of solute per liter of solution. Evaporation of the solution due to the exposure to high temperature (37°C) can change the concentrations and hence compromise embryo development.

Since single-step medium is designed to sustain embryo development for 5 continuous culture days, while some laboratories culture embryos for 7 days, refreshing the culture medium is inevitable either on day 3 or day 5 of development.

There is no concrete evidence on which of these practices will provide a better environment for embryo development. Moreover, none of the studies investigated the effect of single-step culture medium changeover on day 3 or day 5, on the chromosomal errors (aneuploidy). We aim in this study to explore which day of culture medium refreshment (day 3 or day 5) provides a higher rate of euploid blastocysts.

Summary about data collected. Categorical data will be presented in frequency tables and histograms. Continuous values will be summarized according the mean, standard deviation and confidence interval.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING
Sex
Female
Target Recruitment
50
Inclusion Criteria
  • Patients with a minimum of 8 - 10 follicles during ovarian stimulation
  • Patients with a minimum of 8 mature oocytes
  • PGT-A
  • ICSI
  • BMI<35
  • Age 18- 40
  • Fresh or frozen ejaculatory sperm >10,000 motile sperm
  • Any Ovarian stimulation
  • Embryos cultured in Time-lapse system
Exclusion Criteria
  • PGT-M or PGT-SR
  • Previous history of embryo arrest
  • Endometriosis
  • Hydrosalpinx
  • History of uterine abnormality or previous uterine surgery
  • History of previous treatment which may impact the ovarian reserve (adnexal surgery, chemotherapy, radiation...)

Study & Design

Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Study Design
Not specified
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
day 3embryo gradingembryo grading and culture refreshment will be done 67-69 hours post insemination
day 3media refreshmentembryo grading and culture refreshment will be done 67-69 hours post insemination
day 5media refreshmentembryo grading and culture medium refreshment will be done 114-118 hours post insemination
day 5embryo gradingembryo grading and culture medium refreshment will be done 114-118 hours post insemination
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
blastocyst ploidy3 days

determined after biopsy of trophectoderm cells, taken from the blastocyst on day 5, 6 or 7 from development.

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
mosaicism frequency1 day

defined as the rate of mosaic errors in aneuploid embryos. This includes full mosaic embryos or aneuploid embryos with 1 or more mosaic chromosome aberration

cycle ploidy rate1 day

the number of euploid embryos in the group divided by the total number of 2PN

blastocyst quality at time of biopsy1 day

Four Embryo Quality Scores (EQ1, 2, 3, 4) based on the expansion stage of the blastocyst, the grade of the inner cell mass and the grade of the trophectoderm

blastulation rate5 days

ability of the embryo to form a cavity (=to blastulate) 118hours post ICSI. Number of blastocysts divided by the number of 2PN

Trial Locations

Locations (2)

Ibrahim Elkhatib

🇦🇪

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

ART Fertility Clinics

🇦🇪

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

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