Objective: To evaluate the developmental competence and chromosomal normality of oocytes vitrified at various times after maturation culture.
Design: In vitro model study.
Setting: A university-affiliated hospital.
Patient(s): Unstimulated women who underwent cesarean section or oophorectomy and infertile women who underwent a long protocol of GnRH stimulation.
Intervention(s): Retrieved oocytes were vitrified at 0 or 48 hours after culture in unstimulated cycles and at 0, 8-15, or 24-28 hours after culture in stimulated cycles.
Main outcome measure(s): Postthaw morphologic normality, maturation, fertilization, cleavage, blastocyst formation, and chromosome number.
Result(s): In the 53 oocytes that were obtained from unstimulated cycles, no statistically significant differences were found in rates of morphologic normality (range, 56%-63%) or fertilization (range, 31%-37%) according to the time of vitrification. In the 50 oocytes that were obtained from stimulated cycles, more of those that were vitrified at 24-28 hours were morphologically normal than those that were vitrified at 0 or 8-15 hours. Regardless of these differences, high cleavage rates (83%-100%) were obtained that did not differ significantly among the treatment groups. In both cycles, 20%-43% of cleaved oocytes developed to the blastocyst stage by 6 days after IVF. All the karyotyped blastocysts, three from unstimulated cycles and four from stimulated cycles, had a normal number of chromosomes.
Conclusion(s): Vitrified and thawed oocytes from unstimulated or stimulated cycles developed to the blastocyst stage, regardless of when vitrification occurred; the number of chromosomes in the blastocysts was normal.