Aneuploidy screening by array comparative genomic hybridization improves success rates of in vitro fertilization: A multicenter Indian study

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the usefulness of preimplantation genetic screening (PGS) using array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) in the Indian population. MATERIALS AND METHODS This is a retrospective, multicenter study including 235 PGS cycles following intracytoplasmic sperm injection performed at six different infertility centers from September 2013 to June 2015. Patients were divided as per maternal age in several groups (<35, 35-36, 37-38, 39-40, and >40 years) and as per indication for undergoing PGS. Indications for performing PGS were recurrent miscarriage, repetitive implantation failure, severe male factor, previous trisomic pregnancy, and advanced maternal age (≥35). Day 3 embryo biopsy was performed and analyzed by aCGH followed by day 5 embryo transfer in the same cycle or the following cycle. Outcomes such as pregnancy rates (PRs)/transfer, implantation rates, miscarriage rates, percentage of abnormal embryos, and number of embryos with more than one aneuploidy and chaotic patterns were recorded for all the treated subjects based on different age and indication groups. RESULTS aCGH helped in identifying aneuploid embryos, thus leading to consistent implantation (range: 33.3%-42.9%) and PRs per transfer (range: 31.8%-54.9%) that were obtained for all the indications in all the age groups, after performing PGS. CONCLUSION Aneuploidy is one of the major factors which affect embryo implantation. aCGH can be successfully employed for screening of aneuploid embryos. When euploid embryos are transferred, an increase in PRs can be achieved irrespective of the age or the indication.