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Frozen embryo transfer can be performed in the cycle immediately following the freeze-all cycle

  • Assisted Reproduction Technologies
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose

In this study, we investigated whether the time interval between oocyte retrieval and frozen embryo transfer (FET) affected the live birth (LB) rates of human segmented-IVF cycles.

Method

A total of 1338 ICSI freeze-all cycles were performed between February 2015 and January 2016, with 1121 FET cycles being retrospectively analyzed. All vitrified-warmed blastocyst transfers were performed in artificial FET cycles, using gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist downregulation and oral estrogen endometrial preparation. The primary outcome measure was LB. Cycles were investigated in oocyte retrieval-to-FET interval groups of 32–46, 47–61, 62–76, 77–91, and ≥ 92 days, with the 47–61-day group used as the reference group.

Results

There were no significant differences in LB rates between the groups in the overall analysis, as well as, in sub-analyses investigating LB in terms of single blastocyst transfer (SBT), trigger type (GnRH agonist, triggers including hCG), oocyte number (≤ 5 and ≥ 15), and maternal age (> 35 years).

Conclusion

The present study showed that it is feasible to perform transfers 36 days after oocyte retrieval and that delaying FET in freeze-all beyond the cycle immediately following oocyte retrieval does not increase LB rates.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Antalya IVF, Halide Edip Cd. No:7, Kanal Mh, 07080, Antalya, Turkey

    Kemal Ozgur, Hasan Bulut, Murat Berkkanoglu & Kevin Coetzee

  2. The Fertility Clinic, Skive Regional Hospital and Faculty of Health, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

    Peter Humaidan

Authors
  1. Kemal Ozgur
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  2. Hasan Bulut
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  3. Murat Berkkanoglu
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  4. Peter Humaidan
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  5. Kevin Coetzee
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kevin Coetzee.

Ethics declarations

The present study was performed in compliance with the Akdeniz University, Faculty of Medicine, Clinical Research Ethics Committee’s requirements, with all patients completing a signed informed IVF consent that included permission to use anonymised data in research.

Conflict of interests

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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Ozgur, K., Bulut, H., Berkkanoglu, M. et al. Frozen embryo transfer can be performed in the cycle immediately following the freeze-all cycle. J Assist Reprod Genet 35, 135–142 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-017-1048-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-017-1048-6

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