Outcomes from fresh IVF cycles are comparable to oocyte warming cycles in patients who choose to electively cryopreserve their oocytes

Oocyte cryopreservation by vitrification has been proven to be an efficient approach; however there is limited data on cycle outcomes when performed in infertile patients who chose this approach to avoid embryo cryopreservation. Therefore, we collected and analyzed data from patients that chose to cryopreserve a portion of their oocytes for ethical / moral reasons and compared the results from the fresh IVF cycle with the warming cycle. Retrospective data analysis. From October 2007 to October 2013, 114 patients chose to cryopreserve a portion of their freshly retrieved oocytes for ethical/moral reasons and from those, 37 patients returned for oocyte warming. Clinical and laboratory data from these 37 patients were analyzed and compared to the fresh cycle outcomes of the sibling oocytes. All oocytes were vitrified/warmed using the minimal volume technique. All inseminations were performed by ICSI. If HCG was positive, fetal cardiac activity was measured by ultrasound 6-7 weeks after transfer. Table.Tabled 1Fresh IVF cycle vs Warming CycleFRESH IVF CYCLEWARMING CYCLE# PATIENTS / CYCLES37/3737/42AVG. AGE ± S.D.32.6 +/- 3.7033.6 +/- 3.51AVG. PEAK E2 ± S.D.3764 +/- 1749-AVG. DAYS OF STIMULATION ± S.D.13 +/- 1.67-AVG. # OOCYTES RETRIEVED31.6-AVG. # MII OOCYTES ±S.D.22.8 +/- 10.9-AVG. # MII VITRIFIED ± S.D.13.9 +/- 8.9-AVG. # MII WARMED ± S.D.-9.6 +/- 7.48SURVIVAL RATE ±S.D. (n)-82.9% (335/404)AVG. No. OOCYTES INSEMINATED ±S.D.9.2 +/- 5.318.0 +/- 6.72FERTILIZATION RATE ±S.D. (n)71.5 % (244/341) +/- 3.8877.9% (261/335) +/- 5.3BLASTOCYST RATE ±S.D. (n)43.0% (105/244) +/- 2.8449.8% (130/261) +/- 3.01AVG. # EMBRYOS TRANSFERRED1.41.7IMPLANTATION RATE (n)16% (8/50)25% (17/68)CLINICAL PREGNANCY RATE (n)33% (7/21)41% (14/34) Open table in a new tab This study demonstrates that elective oocyte cryopreservation for ethical reasons provides comparable results to fresh cycle outcomes and may be used as an alternative to embryo cryopreservation.