Editor's Choice
Preimplantation genetic testing for human blastocysts with potential parental contamination using a quantitative parental contamination test (qPCT): an evidence-based study
Is it possible to develop a quantitative method for detecting parental DNA contamination in conventional IVF using preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy (PGT-A)?Ovulation induction using sequential letrozole/gonadotrophin in infertile women with PCOS: a randomized controlled trial
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common ovarian endocrine disease in women of reproductive age (Conway et al., 2014), with an incidence among premenopausal women of up to 20% when applying Rotterdam criteria (Yildiz et al., 2012). Oligo-ovulation is the most important and classic clinical manifestation of PCOS (Escobar-Morreale, 2018), and the resulting infertility is the major cause of anovulatory infertility (Balen and Michelmore, 2002), which affects many infertile women of reproductive age.Comparison of different endometrial preparation protocols on frozen embryo transfer pregnancy outcome in patients with normal ovulation
What is the effect of letrozole use in patients undergoing frozen embryo transfer (FET) with normal ovulation? Although the number of FETs is increasing, an optimal protocol for FET (particularly vitrified–warmed embryo transfer) is yet to be determined. The aim of this study was to evaluate letrozole use on patients with normal menstrual cycles compared with hormone replacement therapy (HRT) cycles and natural cycles.Supporting first FSH dosage for ovarian stimulation with machine learning
Although significant strides have been made in the last 40 years, the mean pregnancy rate after an IVF cycle still hovers around 30%, with a 20% chance of delivery (De Geyter et al., 2018). An important requisite to the success of an IVF cycle is the availability of a certain number of mature oocytes (metaphase III [MII]); usually obtained after ovarian stimulation.Does the HCG trigger dose used for IVF impact luteal progesterone concentrations? a randomized controlled trial
Is there an association between the ovulation trigger dose of human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) and endogenous progesterone production during the luteal phase?Similar fertilization rates and preimplantation embryo development among testosterone-treated transgender men and cisgender women
What are the effects of testosterone treatment on oocyte fertilization and preimplantation embryo development among transgender men who have undergone fertility preservation?Comparison of predictive models for cumulative live birth rate after treatment with ART
Can a machine learning model better predict the cumulative live birth rate for a couple after intrauterine insemination or embryo transfer than Cox regression based on their personal characteristics?Non-invasive embryo selection strategy for clinical IVF to avoid wastage of potentially competent embryos
Can a non-invasive embryo transfer strategy provide a reference for embryo selection to be established?Testicular biopsy for fertility preservation in early-diagnosed Klinefelter patients: patient characteristics and long-term follow-up
Which early-diagnosed Klinefelter syndrome patients have been offered cryopreservation of testicular tissue as part of fertility preservation before spermatogonial stem cell (SSC) loss? Do these Klinefelter syndrome patients present with behavioural, cognitive and/or psychological problems? Does a testicular biopsy procedure have long-term effects on the gonadal development of Klinefelter syndrome patients?Pregnancy, fertility concerns and fertility preservation procedures in a national study of French breast cancer survivors
What are the real-life oncofertility practices in young women diagnosed with breast cancer?Does underlying infertility in natural conception modify the epigenetic control of imprinted genes and transposable elements in newborns?
Does the epigenetic control of imprinted genes and transposable elements at birth differ according to time to conception in natural conception and after intrauterine insemination (IUI)?A meta-analysis of serum lipid profiles in premature ovarian insufficiency
Premature ovarian insufficiency (POI), defined as loss of normal ovarian functions before the age of 40 years, occurs in at least 1% of all women. It affects the reproductive system and causes many health problems and psychological stress. Abnormal serum lipid profile leads to cardiovascular diseases, which are strongly associated with high mortality in patients with POI. To date, several studies have examined the levels of different serum lipids in patients with POI. The results, however, are either inconclusive or inconsistent.A microenvironment of high lactate and low pH created by the blastocyst promotes endometrial receptivity and implantation
Is the blastocyst's idiosyncratic metabolic production of lactate, and creation of a specialized microenvironment at the implatation site, an important mediator of maternal–fetal signalling to promote endometrial receptivity and implantation?Is oxytocin receptor antagonist administration around embryo transfer associated with IVF treatment success? A systematic review and meta-analysis
A systematic literature review and meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate whether the administration of an oxytocin receptor antagonist (OTR-a) around embryo transfer is associated with live birth and pregnancy achievement in IVF treatment. Multiple databases were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCT) comparing the outcome of IVF treatment with administration of an OTR-a before, during or after embryo transfer versus administration of placebo/nil. The literature search identified 11 eligible RCT.Comparison of methods for isolation and quantification of circulating cell-free DNA from patients with endometriosis
Endometriosis is a common oestrogen-dependent benign disease, which is defined by the presence of endometrial-like tissue outside of the uterus. Clinical features associated with endometriosis are chronic pelvic pain, pain during intercourse, dysmenorrhoea and infertility (Bulun, 2009; Burghaus et al., 2019). Endometriosis can be detected in 25–50% of infertile women, and 30–50% of women with endometriosis are infertile (Bulletti et al., 2010). Endometriosis affects the receptivity of the endometrium and the development of the oocyte and embryo, leading to significant lower pregnancy rates by natural conception and by IVF (Barnhart et al., 2002; de Ziegler et al., 2010).Clinical outcomes and utilization from over a decade of planned oocyte cryopreservation
An age-related decline in fertility is a well-known physiologic effect related to decreases in oocyte quantity and quality (ACOG and ASRM, 2014). Older women who conceive naturally have an increased risk of fetal chromosomal abnormalities and pregnancy loss (Spandorfer and Chung, 2004). Despite this association, a global shift towards delayed childbearing has occurred (OECD Family Database, OECD, 2019). Age at first birth and the proportion of pregnancies in women over the age of 35 years have been increasing in the USA since 1980 (Martin et al., 2019).IVF impact on the risk of recurrence of endometrial adenocarcinoma after fertility-sparing management
Do IVF treatments after conservative management of endometrial atypical hyperplasia or grade 1 endometrial adenocarcinoma (AH/EC) increase the risk of disease recurrence?The inhibition of WIP1 phosphatase accelerates the depletion of primordial follicles
What role does wild-type p53-induced phosphatase 1 (WIP1) play in the regulation of primordial follicle development?Lower risk of adverse perinatal outcomes in natural versus artificial frozen–thawed embryo transfer cycles: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Frozen–thawed embryo transfer (FET) has increased steadily worldwide over the past few years (De Geyter et al., 2020; Zegers-Hochschild et al., 2020). In 2015, FET accounted for about 40% of all IVF cycles in Europe (De Geyter et al., 2020). The freeze-all strategy has reported successful results with higher live birth rates and lower incidence of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome compared with fresh embryo transfer (Roque et al., 2019; Wei et al., 2019). Some studies have suggested that singletons born after FET also have better neonatal outcomes compared with singletons born after fresh embryo transfer, e.g.Whether to transfer mosaic embryos: a cytogenetic view of true mosaicism by amniocentesis
Preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidies has increasingly been employed for embryo selection, resulting in a recent surge in mosaic embryos. According to the cytogenetic results, which types of mosaic embryo survive early pregnancy, progress to the second trimester and finally result in a live birth?Impact of chronic endometritis in infertility: a SWOT analysis
Chronic endometritis is a pathology often associated with reproductive failure, but there are still no clear recommendations on whether its inclusion in the initial study of infertile couples is necessary. In this discussion paper, based on a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis, the different aspects of the repercussions of chronic endometritis in fertility are evaluated. To avoid possible subjectivity in the analysis and results of this study, the researchers followed the Oxford criteria for the evaluation of evidence.Influence of ethnicity on different aspects of polycystic ovary syndrome: a systematic review
This systematic review aimed to assess variations in the clinical presentation and treatment outcomes of patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) belonging to different ethnicities. A search was performed for studies comparing various clinical aspects of PCOS in two or more different ethnic groups. After screening 2264 studies, 35 articles were included in the final analysis. In comparison with White women with PCOS (wPCOS), East Asian women with PCOS (eaPCOS) were less hirsute, whereas Hispanic women with PCOS (hPCOS), South Asian women with PCOS (saPCOS) and Middle Eastern women with PCOS (mePCOS) were more hirsute.Spatial and temporal changes in follicle distribution in the human ovarian cortex
How does follicle distribution evolve in the human ovarian cortex between the ages of 20 and 35 years?miR-532-3p: a possible altered miRNA in cumulus cells of infertile women with advanced endometriosis
Is the profile of microRNA (miRNA) altered in cumulus cells of infertile women with early (EI/II) and advanced (EIII/IV) endometriosis?An artificial intelligence model based on the proteomic profile of euploid embryos and blastocyst morphology: a preliminary study
The two main factors responsible for the success of an IVF treatment are the endometrium and the embryo (Edwards et al., 1984). Non-invasive methods (morphological and morphokinetic) as well as invasive methods (genetic testing) are currently used in IVF laboratories in embryo selection. However, new approaches to select embryos are still being investigated due to the limited improvement in live birth rate over the last few years (Dyer et al., 2016; De Geyter et al., 2018).
