Intracytoplasmic morphologically selected sperm injection: a prospective randomized trial.

The aim of this prospective randomized study was to assess the advantages of a new modified intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) technique called intracytoplasmic morphologically selected sperm injection (IMSI) over the conventional ICSI procedure in the treatment of patients with severe oligoasthenoteratozoospermia. The new procedure consisted of IMSI based on a preliminary motile sperm organellar morphology examination under x6600 high magnification. A total of 446 couples with at least two previous diagnoses of severe oligoasthenoteratozoospermia, 3 years of primary infertility, the woman aged 35 years or younger, and an undetected female factor were randomized to IVF micro-insemination treatments: ICSI (n = 219; group 1) and IMSI (n = 227; group 2).

Cryotop vitrification of human oocytes results in high survival rate and healthy deliveries.

Vitrification, an ultra-rapid cooling technique, offers a new perspective in attempts to develop an optimal cryopreservation procedure for human oocytes and embryos. To further evaluate this method for human oocytes, 796 mature oocytes (metaphase II) were collected from 120 volunteers. Since Italian legislation allows the fertilization of a maximum of only three oocytes per woman, there were 463 supernumerary oocytes; instead of being discarded, they were vitrified.