BACKGROUND Single blastocyst transfer has the advantage of maximizing the fresh single pregnancy rate. However, in patients with a low number of good quality embryos on day 3, it remains unclear whether immediate embryo transfer or further embryo culture with blastocyst transfer is the most preferable option. METHODS A retrospective cohort study was carried out in which the outcome of 590 fre...

BACKGROUND Embryos selection is crucial to maintain high performance in terms of pregnancy rate, reducing the risk of multiple pregnancy during IVF. Pronuclear and nucleolar characteristics have been proposed as an indicator of embryo development and chromosomal complement in humans, providing information about embryo viability. METHODS To correlate the zygote-score with the maternal age and ...

OBJECTIVE The correlation of the embryo matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) secretion, embryonic development and clinical pregnancy was investigated. MATERIALS AND METHODS The embryo culture from in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET) patients were collected in the Xuzhou Central Hospital from January 2013 to September 2014. At the same time, the embryo grade was recorded. The secreti...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate whether smoking is a risk factor for female sexual dysfunction (FSD) and to determine the relationship between the cumulative smoking dose and FSD in premenopausal women. METHODS The study population consisted of sexually active premenopausal women. The frequency of FSD and female sexual function index (FSFI) total score were evaluated according to the smoking status (ne...

BACKGROUND Minimal stimulation in vitro fertilization (mini-in vitro fertilization) is an alternative in vitro fertilization treatment protocol that may reduce ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, multiple pregnancy rates, and cost while retaining high live birth rates. OBJECTIVE We performed a randomized noninferiority controlled trial with a prespecified border of 10% that compared 1 cycle of...

As the success rates of IVF clinics improve, one of the adverse consequences is the increased incidence of twins, due largely to the number of embryos transferred. Even if the number of embryos transferred is restricted to two, the twinning rate can exceed 40% of the pregnancies. An obvious way to reduce this high twin rate would be to transfer only one embryo. This would require that cryoprese...