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Abstract
Objective
No information exists in the literature regarding the effect of coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) infection on subsequent in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycle attempt. We, therefore, aim to assess the influence of COVID-19 infection on IVF treatments.
Design
An observational study.
Setting
A tertiary, university-affiliated medical center.
Patients and methods
All consecutive couples undergoing ovarian stimulation (OS) for IVF, before and after recovering from COVID-19 infection, and reached the ovum pick-up (OPU) stage. The stimulation characteristics and embryological variables of couples undergoing IVF treatments after recovering from COVID-19 infection were assessed and compared to their IVF cycles prior to COVID-19 infection.
Main outcome measures
Stimulation characteristics and embryological variables.
Results
Nine couples (seven with the female partner infection and two with the male partner) resumed IVF treatment 8–92 d after recovering from the COVID-19 infection (negative polymerase chain reaction [PCR]). No in-between cycles differences were observed in OS and embryological variables between the cycles before and after recovering from the COVID-19 infection, except for a significantly lower proportion of top-quality embryos.
Conclusions
COVID-19 infection did not affect patients’ performance or ovarian reserve in their immediate subsequent IVF cycle, except for a reduced proportion of top-quality embryos (TQEs). We therefore suggest, to postpone IVF treatment for a least 3 months (duration of folliculogenesis and spermatogenesis) after recovering from COVID-19 infection, aiming to recruit healthy gametes that were not exposed to COVID-19 infection during their development.
Covid-19感染影响患者IVF-ET周期的表现吗？：一项观察性研究 摘要
目的：文献中没有关于2019冠状病毒病（COVID-19）感染对后续体外受精（IVF）周期影响的信息。因此, 我们旨在评估COVID -19感染对IVF治疗的影响。
设计：一项观察性研究。
机构：一所三级、大学附属医学中心
患者和方法：连续纳入所有在COVID -19感染前及感染恢复后因IVF行卵巢刺激（OS）并进行到到卵子拾取（OPU）阶段的夫妻。评估了从COVID -19感染恢复后接受IVF治疗的刺激特征和胚胎参数, 并与COVID -19感染前的IVF周期进行比较。
主要结局测量：刺激特征和胚胎参数。
结果：九对夫妻（七对为女性伴侣感染、2对为男性伴侣感染）在COVID -19感染恢复（聚合酶链反应[PCR]阴性）后8-92天进行IVF治疗。对于OS和胚胎参数, COVID -19感染前与恢复后的IVF周期中没有观察到差异, 除了优质胚胎比例低下。
结论：COVID -19感染不影响夫妇后续IVF周期中的表现及卵巢储备, 除了优质胚胎（TQEs）比例降低。因此, 我们建议, 在COVID -19感染恢复后, 推迟IVF治疗至少3个月（卵子和精子形成的时长）, 旨在获取在发育期间未暴露于COVID感染的健康配子。
Ethical approval
The study was approved by our institutional review board (SMC-7901-20).
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Author contributions
R.O. designed the study, wrote the first paper draft, edited it, proof read the article, and took part in discussions regarding the results. A.S.Z. retrieved the data, proof read the article and took part in discussions regarding the results. A.A. designed the study conducted the embryological work and retrieved the data, proof read the article, and took part in discussions regarding the results. The author(s) read and approved the final manuscript.