In vitro rescue immature oocytes – a literature review

Abstract

Immature oocytes retrieved from in vitro fertilization (IVF) and clinical in vitro maturation (IVM) is a common problem, especially in patients with advanced age, poor ovarian response (POR), or polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Considering there is no common name to describe this group of oocytes, we suggest naming all of immature oocytes retrieved from IVF and clinical IVM cycles as ‘Medical Unusable Oocytes’ (MUO) as none of them will be used for subsequent treatment and will eventually be discarded. Scientists attempt to improve the clinical utilization rate of MUO instead of discarding them. Rescue IVM and mitochondria supplementation may be available approaches to mature MUO. We propose a specific definition of rescue IVM, namely the cultivation and maturation of immature oocytes in vitro collected from IVF cycles with human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) trigger. Rescue IVM is usually mixed up with clinical IVM. Clarification of the differences between rescue IVM and clinical IVM is necessary. This manuscript aims to clarify the rather confusing IVM procedures and review existing methods of improving rescue IVM, currently available information on the success rate, and explore the future possibility of rescue IVM serving as a promising tool in reproductive medicine.