Blastocyst expansion post-thaw and before embryo transfer: does it affect implantation rate?

Abstract

Background and Aim: Apart from ploidy, embryo morphology has remained as the gold standard for selection in embryo transfers. Recent studies demonstrated that blastocysts with shorter re-expansion duration (<3 hours) are shown to have higher implantation rate (IR). However, the inclusion criteria were not well stratified. Our study aimed to evaluate the effect of the post-thaw blastocyst expansion and its subsequent expansion following culture before the transfer in patients of ≤35 years old with single blastocyst transfer (SBT).