Frozen blastocyst embryo transfer vs. frozen cleavage-stage embryo transfer in couples with recurrent implantation failure: a cohort study

Abstract

The objective of this prospective cohort study was to investigate whether cryopreservation of cleavage or blastocyst stage embryos improves in vitro fertilization outcomes in recurrent implantation failure (RIF) patients. The study comprised 575 patients who were allocated to receive either single frozen/thawed blastocyst-stage transfer (SBT) or frozen/thawed double-cleavage-stage embryo transfer (DET). The clinical pregnancy rate, implantation rate, and ongoing pregnancy rate were higher in the SBT group compared with the DET group (41.15% vs. 27.11%, p < 0.001; 41.15% vs. 19.28%, p < 0.001; 40.03% vs. 25.9%, p < 0.001), but the miscarriage rate did not differ between the two groups. It was concluded that frozen/thawed SBT could be a preferred strategy for RIF patients.

KEYWORDS:

• Blastocyst transfer
• cleavage-stage embryo transfer
• recurrent implantation failure
• clinical pregnancy outcomes

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and composition of the paper.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the Health and Family Planning Commission of Chongqing (Chongqing, China) [Grant number 2017MSXM111] and Chongqing Science and Technology Bureau (Chongqing, China) [Grant number cstc2017shms-zdyf0194].