Fertilization rate as a novel indicator for cumulative live birth rate: a multicenter retrospective cohort study of 9,394 complete in vitro fertilization cycles.

Objective: To appraise the fertilization rate as a predictive factor for cumulative live birth rate (CLBR).

Design: Multicenter retrospective cohort study.

Setting: Ten in vitro fertilization clinics, whose data were collected and processed by the assisted reproductive technology (ART) Italian National Registry.

Phthalates and Bisphenol A: Presence in Blood Serum and Follicular Fluid of Italian Women Undergoing Assisted Reproduction Techniques.

Background: folliculogenesis is a strictly regulated process that may be affected by endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) through sometimes not so clear molecular mechanisms.

Methods: we conducted a multicentric observational study involving six fertility centers across Italy, prospectively recruiting 122 women attending a fertility treatment. Recruited women had age ≤42 years, and normal ovarian reserve.

Bilateral testicular masses and adrenal insufficiency: is congenital adrenal hyperplasia the only possible diagnosis? First two cases of TARTS described in Addison-only X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy and a brief review of literature.

Background: Testicular adrenal rest tumors (TARTs) are benign masses deemed to originate from pluripotent testicular steroidogenic cells that grow under chronic ACTH stimulation. These lesions, occasionally misdiagnosed as Leydig cell tumors (LCTs), are typically described in patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH). X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy (X-ALD) is an inherited disorder of beta-oxidation with accumulation of very long chain fatty acids (VLCFAs) in various tissues, and a rare cause of primary adrenal insufficiency (PAI).

Twenty-one year experience with intrauterine inseminations after controlled ovarian stimulation with gonadotropins: maternal age is the only prognostic factor for success.

Purpose: To report our experience on homologous intrauterine insemination (IUI) with gonadotropin controlled ovarian stimulation (COS) cycles and to examine different variables which could predict IUI success.

Materials And Methods: This is a retrospective analysis of IUIs performed between January 1997 and December 2017. A total of 7359 COS IUI's procedures (2901 couples) were reviewed.

Oocyte Cryopreservation in Oncological Patients: Eighteen Years Experience of a Tertiary Care Referral Center.

The aim of the present study is to report our experience on elective women fertility preservation before cancer treatment. This is a single-center retrospective observational study, including all patients who underwent elective fertility preservation before oncological treatment between January 2001 and March 2019 at our Institute. Of a total of 568 women who received fertility counseling, 244 (42.

An Observational Retrospective Cohort Trial on 4,828 IVF Cycles Evaluating Different Low Prognosis Patients Following the POSEIDON Criteria.

To study the actual controlled ovarian stimulation (COS) management in women with suboptimal response, comparing clinical outcomes to the gonadotropins consume, considering potential role of luteinizing hormone (LH) addition to follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). Monocentric, observational, retrospective, real-world, clinical trial on fresh intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycles retrieving from 1 to 9 oocytes, performed at Humanitas Fertility Center from January 1st, 2012 to December 31st, 2015. COS protocols provided gonadotropin releasing-hormone (GnRH) agonist long, flare-up, short and antagonist.

Male age: negative impact on sperm DNA fragmentation.

The main goal of semen processing in Assisted Reproductive Techniques (ART) is to select sperm with good viability and, at the same time, remove Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) sources (such as leukocytes) and reduce the percentage of morphologically abnormal sperm for fertility treatment. We performed a comparative analysis on sperm DNA fragmentation after Density Gradient Centrifugation (DGC) using products sold by two competing companies. Our results showed comparable DNA Fragmentation Index (DFI) after treatment with both DGC products.

Correction to: Assisted reproductive technologies (ART) and childhood cancer: is the risk real?

The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake in the 1st sentence of the 1st paragraph in page 2.

Associations of blastocyst features, trophectoderm biopsy and other laboratory practice with post-warming behavior and implantation.

Study Question: Are trophectoderm biopsy or other pre-vitrification features or laboratory practices associated with differences in blastocyst post-warming behavior (degeneration, re-expansion and live birth after single embryo transfer (SET))?

Summary Answer: Blastocyst morphology, day of full development and artificial shrinkage (either laser-assisted or biopsy-induced) are the pre-vitrification parameters/practices most strongly associated with post-warming behavior and implantation potential while there was no association with trophectoderm biopsy.

What Is Known Already: Since the introduction of vitrification, the adoption of cycle segmentation, freeze-all and SET policies, as well of trophectoderm biopsy-based aneuploidy testing (i.e.

Inconclusive chromosomal assessment after blastocyst biopsy: prevalence, causative factors and outcomes after re-biopsy and re-vitrification. A multicenter experience.

Study Question: Can a second round of biopsy, vitrification and chromosomal testing provide a valid diagnosis where the first attempt fails?

Summary Answer: The risk of inconclusive chromosomal-assessment after trophectoderm biopsy was 2.5% but a further biopsy and vitrification-warming appeared not to impair the competence of euploid blastocysts.

What Is Known Already: The increasing implementation of multicell trophectoderm biopsy has significantly reduced the risk of inconclusive diagnosis after preimplantation-genetic-testing (PGT).

Levothyroxine supplementation on assisted reproduction technology (ART) outcomes in women with subtle hypothyroidism: a retrospective study.

The need for treating subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) in women undergoing assisted reproduction technology (ART) is under debate. Moreover, it is known that controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (COH) protocols may impair the thyroidal axis. Therefore, we evaluated if levothyroxine (L-T4) supplementation in SCH women before undergoing ART positively affects the main reproductive outcomes.

Appraisal of clinical complications after 23,827 oocyte retrievals in a large assisted reproductive technology program.

Objective: To assess complications encountered after transvaginal oocyte retrieval procedures.

Design: Retrospective analysis.

Setting: University hospital, fertility center.

A new, simple, automatic vitrification device: preliminary results with murine and bovine oocytes and embryos.

Purpose: This paper reports the use of a novel automatic vitrification device (Sarah, Fertilesafe, Israel) for cryopreservation of oocytes and embryos.

Methods: Mice oocytes (n = 40) and embryos (8 cells, n = 35 and blastocysts, n = 165), bovine embryos (2PN, n = 35), and MII oocytes (n = 84) were vitrified using this automated device. A total of 42 (2 cells) mice embryos, 20 (2PN) bovine embryos, and 150 MII bovine oocytes were used as fresh controls and grown to blastocysts.

Prevalence of XXY karyotypes in human blastocysts: multicentre data from 7549 trophectoderm biopsies obtained during preimplantation genetic testing cycles in IVF.

Study Question: Which is the prevalence of a 47,XXY karyotype in human blastocysts biopsied during preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidies (PGT-A) cycles?

Summary Answer: The prevalence of a 47,XXY karyotype amongst male blastocysts without autosomal aneuploides is ~1%.

What Is Known Already: The prevalence of Klinefelter syndrome is estimated as 0.1-0.

No advantage of fresh blastocyst versus cleavage stage embryo transfer in women under the age of 39: a randomized controlled study.

Purpose: Is there a difference in implantation and pregnancy rates between embryos transferred electively at cleavage or blastocyst stage in infertile women ≤ 38 years with at least four zygotes on day 1 post retrieval?

Methods: A randomized clinical trial was conducted in a single tertiary care hospital with a sample size of 194 patients in each arm for a total population of 388 women. Patients less than 39 years of age with more than three fertilized oocytes and less than four previous assisted reproductive technology (ART) attempts were inclusion criteria.

Results: The two groups were similar for age, years of infertility, indication to treatment, basal antimüllerian hormone and FSH, number of previous ART cycles, primary or secondary infertility, type of induction protocol, days of stimulation, total gonadotrophin dose, and estradiol (E2) and progesterone (P) levels at trigger.

Effect of superoxide dismutase supplementation on sperm DNA fragmentation.

Background: antioxidants supplementation improves sperm quality, but few trials have analyzed the effects on sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF). This study compares the effectiveness of SOD-based antioxidant supplementation plus hydroxytyrosol and carnosol in reducing SDF with other antioxidants without SOD, hydroxytyrosol, and carnosol.

Materials And Methods: men with high SDF at baseline were selected in our clinical database.

Pro-inflammatory M1/Th1 type immune network and increased expression of TSG-6 in the eutopic endometrium from women with endometriosis.

Objective: The study aimed to explore the type 1 and type 2 cytokines expression in the endometrium from women affected by endometriosis compared to controls. The expression of TSG-6, a multifunctional protein involved in several inflammatory disease, was also evaluated. Study Design SETTING: Experimental clinical study.

The effect of parnaparin sodium on in vitro fertilization outcome: A prospective randomized controlled trial.

Introduction: In-vitro and in-vivo models suggest the influence of low-molecular weight heparin on conception in infertile women undergoing in vitro fertilization procedures (IVF). In this randomized controlled trial we assessed whether a low-molecular weight heparin (parnaparin) could affect IVF outcomes.

Materials And Methods: 271cycles were analyzed in 247 women having a first or subsequent IVF cycle at Fertility Center of Humanitas Research Hospital.

Comprehensive protocol of traceability during IVF: the result of a multicentre failure mode and effect analysis.

Study Question: Can traceability of gametes and embryos be ensured during IVF?

Summary Answer: The use of a simple and comprehensive traceability system that includes the most susceptible phases during the IVF process minimizes the risk of mismatches.

What Is Known Already: Mismatches in IVF are very rare but unfortunately possible with dramatic consequences for both patients and health care professionals. Traceability is thus a fundamental aspect of the treatment.

Preimplantation genetic diagnosis for aneuploidy testing in women older than 44 years: a multicenter experience.

Objective: To report laboratory and clinical outcomes in preimplantation genetic diagnosis for aneuploidies (PGD-A) cycles for women 44 to 47 years old.

Design: Multicenter, longitudinal, observational study.

Setting: In vitro fertilization (IVF) centers.

Proteomic profile of maternal-aged blastocoel fluid suggests a novel role for ubiquitin system in blastocyst quality.

Purpose: The etiology of maternal aging, a common cause of female factor infertility and a rate-limiting step in vitro fertilization (IVF) success, remains still unclear. Proteomic changes responsible for the impaired successful pregnancy outcome after IVF with aged blastocysts have not been yet evaluated. The objective of this prospective study was to employ proteomic techniques and bioinformatic tools to enlight differences at the protein level in blastocoel fluid of aged and younger woman.

Evolution of human oocyte cryopreservation: slow freezing versus vitrification.

Purpose Of Review: The purpose is to determine the efficiency and efficacy of oocyte cryopreservation by slow freezing versus vitrification, recent data collected from the Italian National Assisted Reproductive Technology Register during the period 2009-2014 will be presented and reviewed. The data on oocyte cryopreservation were also compared with the results obtained with embryo cryopreservation and relative IVF with fresh oocytes.

Recent Findings: During the period 2009-2014 preservation of oocytes by vitrification had a significantly higher survival rate, implantation, and pregnancy rate than slow freezing; however, there are still large variations in success rates among centers in relation to the number of procedures performed.

Freeze/thaw stress induces organelle remodeling and membrane recycling in cryopreserved human mature oocytes.

Purpose: Our aim was to evaluate the ultrastructure of human metaphase II oocytes subjected to slow freezing and fixed after thawing at different intervals during post-thaw rehydration.

Methods: Samples were studied by light and transmission electron microscopy.

Results: We found that vacuolization was present in all cryopreserved oocytes, reaching a maximum in the intermediate stage of rehydration.