Childhood growth of term singletons born after frozen compared with fresh embryo transfer.

Research Question: Is the growth of term singletons born after frozen embryo transfer (FET) comparable to those born after fresh embryo transfer and natural conception up to 5 years of age?

Design: Observational cohort study in an academic medical centre and municipal child health clinics with repeated measurements carried out by medical professionals. Term singletons born after FET (n = 110) and fresh embryo transfer (n = 181) and their matched natural conception controls (n = 543) born in Oulu, Northern Finland, were included. Mean weights, lengths, heights and head circumferences at the ages of 4, 8 and 18 months and 3 and 5 years were compared.

Short- and long-term health consequences and current satisfaction levels for altruistic anonymous, identity-release and known oocyte donors.

Study Question: What are the short- and long-term health consequences and current satisfaction of altruistic oocyte donors?

Summary Answer: Donating oocytes in the majority (>90%) of donation cycles is not associated with harmful long-term general or reproductive health effects.

What Is Known Already: Knowledge of long-term health effects of oocyte donation on donors is sparse and follow-up studies have usually been carried out on commercial donors. Thus far, no major long-term harmful effects have been demonstrated.

Factors affecting the outcome of frozen-thawed embryo transfer.

Study Question: Which clinical and laboratory factors affect live birth rate (LBR) after frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FET)?

Summary Answer: Top quality embryo characteristics, endometrial preparation protocol, number of embryos transferred and BMI affected independently the LBR in FET.

What Is Known Already: FET is an important part of present-day IVF/ICSI treatment. There is limited understanding of the factors affecting success rates after FET.

Sequence variations in human ZP genes as potential modifiers of zona pellucida architecture.

To examine putative associations between zona pellucida (ZP) anomalies and sequence variations in genes expressing structural ZP glycoprotein components, sequence data of 31 volunteers participating in IVF treatments were obtained and analyzed together with morphologic data of the respective oocytes. Our results suggest that some of the most frequent zona anomalies may be at least partly explained by sequence variations in genes expressing the four human ZP proteins, especially those in ZP2 and ZP3.

Low-dose aspirin therapy and hypertensive pregnancy complications in unselected IVF and ICSI patients: a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study.

Background: Low-dose aspirin therapy could improve remodelling of maternal spiral arteries during early placentation and prevent subsequent pregnancy-related hypertensive disorders. We investigated whether low-dose aspirin therapy reduces the incidence of hypertensive pregnancy complications in unselected IVF and ICSI patients when medication was started prior to pregnancy.

Methods: A total of 487 patients who underwent IVF/ICSI were randomized to receive 100 mg aspirin (n = 242) or placebo (n = 245) daily, starting on the first day of gonadotrophin stimulation.

An initial low response predicts poor outcome in in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection despite improved ovarian response in consecutive cycles.

Objective: To study the predictive value of initial low response (LR) in IVF/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).

Design: Retrospective analysis.

Setting: Two Finnish fertility centers.