INTRACYTOPLASMIC SPERM INJECTION IMPROVING EMBRYO QUALITY - COMPARISON OF THE SIBLING OOCYTES OF NON-MALE-FACTOR COUPLES

Objective: Our objective was to investigate whether the quality of emb ryos developed after intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is better than that of conventional NF embryos. Methods: Nine couples who previ ously achieved a normal rate of fertilization following NF and four co uples whose normal rare of fertilization was expected were involved in this study. The oocytes from those couples were randomly divided into two groups, group A by conventional insemination and group B by ICSI. The fertilization rare and quality of embryos were compared. Results: Normal fertilization was achieved in 61% of the oocytes (83/136) afte r conventional insemination. In group B, 69% of the oocytes (99/144) a chieved normal fertilization, although only 127 metaphase II oocytes w ere injected using the ICSI technique. More grade A embryos were obtai ned when the ICSI technique was used for fertilization than by convent ional NF (35.4 and 24.3%, respectively; P = 0.028). Conclusions: A sim ilar fertilization rate can be achieved by ICSI in comparison with con ventional IVF, when male factor is nor involved. Embryos after ICSI ha ve an improved quality.