Abstract
To investigate if two distinct, commercially available embryo culture media have a different effect on birthweight and length of singleton term infants conceived after IVF-ICSI. University hospital based cohort study. Between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2004, patients conceiving through IVF-ICSI at the University Hospital, Lausanne have been allocated to two distinct embryo culture media. Only term singleton pregnancies were analysed (n = 525). Data analysis was performed according to two commercially available culture media: Vitrolife (n = 352) versus Cook (n = 173). Analysis was performed through linear regression adjusted for confounders. Media were considered equivalent if the 95% confidence interval lay between -150 g/+150 g. Length, gestational age and distribution of birthweight percentiles did not differ between groups (for both genders). Analysis of the whole cohort, adjusted for a subset of confounders, resulted in a statistically not different mean birthweight between the two groups (Vitrolife +37 g vs Cook, 95%CI: -46 g to 119 g) suggesting equivalence. Adjustment for an enlarged number of confounders in a subsample of patients (n = 258) also revealed no relevant mean birthweight difference of +71 g (95%CI: -45 g to 187 g) in favour of Vitrolife; however, lacking power to prove equivalence. Our data suggest that significant differences in birthweight due to these two distinct, commercially available embryo culture media are unlikely.
Highlights
IntroductionSince the introduction of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) – intracytoplasmatic sperm injection (ICSI), several studies have shown that birthweight of infants conceived after fresh IVF-ICSI cycles is lower than birthweight of neonates after spontaneous conception, even in singleton pregnancies [1, 2]
QUESTIONS UNDER STUDY: To investigate if two distinct, commercially available embryo culture media have a different effect on birthweight and length of singleton term infants conceived after in vitro fertilisation (IVF)-intracytoplasmatic sperm injection (ICSI)
Between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2004, patients conceiving through IVF-ICSI at the University Hospital, Lausanne have been allocated to two distinct embryo culture media
Summary
Since the introduction of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) – intracytoplasmatic sperm injection (ICSI), several studies have shown that birthweight of infants conceived after fresh IVF-ICSI cycles is lower than birthweight of neonates after spontaneous conception, even in singleton pregnancies [1, 2] The reasons for these differences still remain uncertain. In 2010, Dumoulin et al postulated that specific culture media could be a predisposing factor of inferior birthweight [3] They compared in a non-randomised, retrospective cohort study the effect of two different commercially available culture media on the outcome of singleton pregnancies after fresh IVF-ICSI cycles and observed that neonates, cultured as embryos in the Cook® embryo culture media, had lower birthweight compared to those of the Vitrolife® culture media. As epigenetic modifications can occur already during the first days of the embryonic life, it would be
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