TREATMENT WITH CALCIUM IONOPHORE IMPROVES THE RESULTS IN PATIENTS WITH PREVIOUS UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPTS; A COHORT STUDY

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the improvement according to fertilization, implantation and pregnancy rates as well as cancelation rate in patients with previous attempt (with extremely low or failed fertilization) after applying artificial oocyte activation (AOA) with Calcium Ionophore (CaI) in the following attempt. Finally, was evaluated the result testing in addition the delivery rate and obstetric outcomes in children born after AOA. Material and methods: The study was conducted in IVF laboratory of IVI clinic (IVIRMA Valencia, Spain). In this retrospective observational study one group (509 mature oocytes from 66 patients) was treated with a first intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) without AOA, gaining either a failure fertilization or very low values (<30%) and was compared to the other group (616 mature oocytes from 66 patients) but using AOA. Outcome was compared by Mcnemar and dependent T-Tests. Results: Higher values of fertilization rate (51% vs 13.1%), ongoing pregnancy rate (47% vs. 21.7%) as well as implantation rate (31.1% vs.13.1%) and lower chances to cancel the cycle (22.7% vs 69.3%) were found by applying the AOA with CaI. Additionally, no adverse effects were observed in obstetric and perinatal outcomes after the use of AOA. Conclusions: Our findings support the use of AOA for a given population of patients where the fertilization was affected in previous attempts, and after its application, the reproductive success was significantly enhanced. As result of this improvement, the number of embryos available for embryo selection was increased and therefore, the chances of success for the patients. The use of this artificial technique is comforting after checking non-existence of detrimental effects on the offspring.