Reproductive BioMedicine Online

New Hot Topic! selected by Editors Mina Alikani and Richard Anderson Effort in manual operation of reproductive health cryostorage facilities by Alicia Broussard, Bill Venier, Abeer Salhia, Angeline Beltsos, Joseph Lee, Jessica Bailey, Denny Sakkas, and Michael Collins, Ph.D. Our editors say: “Time and motion studies are sorely missing in embryology. This study highlights the time-consuming and fatiguing nature of many everyday tasks performed by embryologists. Can these tasks be simplified or even removed by automation and technology?” This paper discusses some of the advances in automation and software improvements that could combine with understanding the pain-points of operations to lessen the burden on embryologists. Published open access, the paper is free to read in our November issue, 49.5, now: https://lnkd.in/drj3eazc #RBMOHotTopic #ClinicalEmbryology #Embryologist #Cryostorage #FatiguingWorkConditions #CaneRetrieval #SpecimenIdentification

This new paper reports on the outcomes of embryo transfers before and after changes to the Swiss national legislation, providing a unique evaluation of the impacts of legal interventions on reproductive outcomes. The authors, Janna Pape, Jérémy Levy, Sofiia Makieva, and Michael von Wolff conclude the “resounding consensus is unequivocal: The efficacy of infertility treatment is intricately intertwined with the framework of health policy, demonstrating a bidirectional relationship between legislation and technological innovation.” Besides a reduction in multiple deliveries, the new legislative change resulted in improved outcomes for both fresh and frozen transfer strategies. For frozen transfers, the improvement in LBR was more pronounced, not only as a consequence of the increased utilisation of vitrification, but also due to the liberalization of extended embryo culture. In both transfer strategies, the adjusted outcomes for LBR and cLBR were comparable. Fresh blastocyst ET demonstrated a significantly higher LBR compared to cleavage stage transfers. The study supports the concept of blastocyst transfer, but also confirms that the decision to choose a fresh or frozen strategy should be based on individual clinical factors. National regulations on ART are needed to allow safe clinical practice based on ethics and evidence to support couples wishing to become parents. The paper is published open access, available to read in full from our in-press articles section, now: https://lnkd.in/ep_fMsFU #ClinicalEmbryoloy #NationalLegislation #Ivf #FreshEmbryoTransfer #FrozenEmbryoTransfer #CleavageEmbryo #Blastocyst

The Autumn issue of RBMO Digest is out now – our quarterly publication that collects together highlights and especially recommended papers from recent issues of Reproductive BioMedicine Online. As well as Hot Topics, Editor’s Choice, Countercurrent and Review highlights, this issue includes a profile focusing on our Clinical Assisted Reproductive Technology section, with comments and articles selected by one of our Section Editors, Professor Nikolaos Polyzos. Find it on our website, now: https://lnkd.in/efbFVTmg #RBMOdigest #ClinicalAssistedReproductiveTechnology #ClinicalEmbryology #ExperimentalReproductiveBiology #FemaleReproductiveHealthandFertility #MaleReproductiveHealthandFertility #PericonceptionPregnancyandChildOutcomes #ReproductionTechnologyandSociety #ReproductiveEndocrinologyandHealth

What are the clinical effects of using cultured medium with antioxidants throughout the IVF process? This new prospective study from Shigetoshi Mizumoto and team at Kuramoto Women's Clinic finds that embryo development and single vitrified blastocyst transfers outcomes of treatment cycles were improved significantly when media was combined with antioxidants throughout the entire IVF process. This effect was seen in patients aged 35-40 years old, with higher fertilization rate, GQB development rate, blastocyst utilization rate and a higher live birth rate per transfer. However, the authors did not see statistically verifiable benefits in patients under 35 years of age, suggesting clinical benefits for patients with advanced maternal age at the level of embryo development as well as ET success rates. The full paper is available now as a pre-proof to RBMO subscribers from our in-press articles section now: https://lnkd.in/e9msG6_J #ClinicalEmbryology #Antioxidants #Ivf #SpermPreparation #Gametes #EmbryoQuality

The November issue of RBMO is out now! 49.5 features 23 papers across six specialist topic sections, with research and reviews addressing: + Lessons learned from 64,071 embryos subjected to PGT for aneuploidies + Association between frozen embryo transfer and childhood allergy + How to detect an inadvertent pregnancy during random start stimulations + Relationship between fresh single embryo morphology scores and serum HCG values + Effect of breast cancer prognostic factors on ovarian reserve and response in fertility preservation + Differing effects of endometriosis on natural and ART fertility. + Web-based interventions in the clinical encounter in fertility care + Managing risks for genetic conditions in donor sperm treatment: + And more The issue includes 11 open access and free to read papers, so even non-subscribers will find plenty of available articles to read. See the full table of contents, and access the articles online, now   https://lnkd.in/er7AnFgD #RBMOissues #RBMOnline #ClinicalAssistedReproductiveTechnology #ClinicalEmbryology #ExperimentalReproductiveBiology #FemaleReproductiveHealthandFertility #MaleReproductiveHealthandFertility #PericonceptionPregnancyandChildOutcomes #ReproductionTechnologyandSociety #ReproductiveEndocrinologyandHealth

This systematic review by Serdar Aydin, Mert Yaşlı, Sule Yildiz, and Bulent Urman critically evaluates the state-of-the-art advancements in the application of 3D bioprinting to engineer reproductive tissues. The review opens up the topic for better understanding and emphasizes advances in applications in several branches of reproductive medicine, spanning ovarian function restoration, endometrial regeneration, vaginal reconstruction, and male germ cell bioengineering. 3D bioprinting holds untapped potential in reproductive medicine. Despite the successful use cases, the implementation of 3D bioprinting in the clinical setting is confronted with a multitude of challenges, including material solubility, structural integrity, degradation kinetics aligned with tissue regeneration, preservation of cell viability, augmentation of cell proliferation, and mitigation of toxicity. Addressing these obstacles is critical to realizing the full potential of this cutting-edge technology in the field of reproductive tissue engineering, and although there have been some promising results achieved in vitro configurations, further research is imperative to attain the optimal compatibility and functionality of tissue grafts and full-scale organ transplantation. As with all Review papers in RBMO, this article is made free to read. Available now from our October issue, 49.4 https://lnkd.in/e9NUqv-g #RBMOreviews #ClinicalAssistedReproductiveTechnology #SystematicReview #3dBioprinting #Bioengineering #ReproductiveTissues

How are blastocyst biopsy genotypes distributed as a function of cohort size, and how well does the binomial theorem predict the specific distribution of euploid genotypes across different cohort sizes? This new study from Thomas T.F. Huang, Brienne Walker, Hyeong Ahn, Kyle Ishikawa, Christina Arnett, and Christopher Huang presents a binomial theorem which they show to be capable of predicting the probability distributions of euploid genotypes in cohort sizes >4 in patients <37yr without a biopsy. The authors say their study “describes how the selection of single blastocysts for transfer can be re-framed as a statistical exercise in sampling from a population. The data presented here more specifically describes this as genotype sampling exercise from cohorts having both defined sizes and varying pregnancy potentials. As such, it represents a classification-prediction model of how sustained pregnancy potential changes as a function of cohort size.” The paper is published open access, available to read in full from our in-press articles section, now: https://lnkd.in/eVg9_igz #ClinicalEmbryology #BlastocystBiopsy #EuploidBlastocysts #BinomialDistribution #BlastocystSelection

In this new Countercurrent Contribution, Anna Oberle and Michael Feichtinger consider the limitations of trophectoderm-based PGT-A, and take a fresh look at the potentials of polar body analysis. They argue that "polar body analysis allows for fresh embryo transfer, reduces the number of frozen aneuploid embryos, number of embryo transfers to achieve a live-birth and miscarriage rates. Novel analyzing techniques like third generation sequencing allow for sequencing at a much reduced cost potentially making the procedure even cost efficient. Thus, polar body based PGT-A may be regarded a rather straightforward PGT-A procedure." Consequently, they say that clinics worldwide looking for alternatives to conventional trophectoderm based PGT-A might find a valuable alternative in polar body based PGT-A, moving forward to the historic roots of PGT-A. All our Countercurrent Contributions are made free to read – find it in our in-press articles section ahead of issue publication, now: https://lnkd.in/ehD8E3jb #CountercurrentContribution #PolarBody #PGTA #Trophectoderm #Aneuploidy #IVF #ICSI

We are pleased to publish the latest update from the Latin American Registry of Assisted Reproduction. The report from the association’s founding chairman, Fernando Zegers-Hochschild and colleagues provides systematic collection of cycle-based multinational data, which contributes to cooperative sustained development and helps implement evidence-based reproductive decisions. Highlights from the report show: • A delivery rate in freeze all cycles significantly greater than fresh and FET cycles. • Improvement in delivery rate and miscarriage rate after PGT at all ages, including OD. • Increase in fresh and cumulative deliveries by number of oocytes and blastocysts generated. • Higher rates of aneuploidy in embryos of young infertile women than oocyte donors • Freezing less than 10 eggs is inefficient due to poor blastulation and high aneuploidy   Read more about the trends and impact of new technologies on effectiveness and safety of ART in the full article, available now from our in-press articles section: https://lnkd.in/efpEwqKe #ClinicalAssistedReproductiveTechnology #LatinAmericanRegistryOfAssistedReproduction #ARTRegistry #OocyteDonation #PGT #ReproductiveOutcome

This study reports on the rates and patterns of aneuploidy in a large cohort of 364 parental balanced rearrangement (PBR) couples with Robertsonian translocations (RobT), reciprocal translocations (RecT), inversions (Inv), and insertions, undergoing PGT-SR. The results collected by authors Lauren Walters-Sen, PhD, FACMG, Dana Neitzel, MS, CGC, Rachel Ellsworth, Sarah Poll, Nicole Faulkner, and Swaroop Aradhya, show that PBR couples can produce suitable embryos for transfer; however, the rate is dependent on many factors, including PBR type, egg age, parent-of-origin, and number of embryos. The team say that utilizing these improved likelihood of transfer estimates can aid in counseling couples to help ensure informed decision making throughout the IVF process. The full paper is available now as a pre-proof to RBMO subscribers from our in-press articles section now: https://lnkd.in/e7McsQWr  #ClinicalAssistedReproductiveTechnology #Translocation #PreimplantationGeneticTesting #Risk-Estimate #LikelihoodOfTransfer