Characteristic cytoplasmic morphology of oocytes in endometriosis patients and its effect on the outcome of assisted reproduction treatments cycles

Abstract

Introduction: Endometriosis is a clinical disease that is associated with poor outcomes in in vitro fertilization programs with a decrease in oocyte retrieval, oocyte quality, implantation and pregnancy rates.Based on the observations that the majority of the oocytes obtained in patients diagnosed with endometriosis have some characteristics, we conducted a retrospective study to reveal a more definite picture and to establish a simple way of prediction of the outcome. Materials and Methods: The patients were triaged in two groups based on the diagnosis of endometriosis. After denudation, the oocytes were examined by inverted microscope with ×200 magnification just before intracytoplasmic sperm injection. Oocytes with a centrally dark and granular cytoplasm were diagnosed to have degenerative signs. Results: Data of 792 patients were reviewed retrospectively. The percentage of oocytes with degenerative signs is significantly higher in endometriosis (27.4%) group compared with control group (7.9%) ( P < 0.001). Although, there is a tendency to lower pregnancy rate in endometriosis group (38.7%) the difference is not statistically significant (50.4%) ( P = 0.077). Conclusion: The oocytes have a characteristic appearance of dark and granular ooplasm in endometriosis cases. This finding can be used as a clue in cases in which the presumptive diagnosis has not verified by laparoscopy. The typical morphology also has an adverse effect on clinical outcome.