Glucose-free medium in human in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer: alarge-scale, prospective, randomized clinical trial

Objective: To determine whether excluding glucose from the culture medium u sed in a clinical IVF program improves human embryo quality and pregnancy r ates. Design: Randomized controlled trial. Setting: Clinical assisted conception laboratory in a large teaching hostpi al. Patient(s): Seven hundred forty-one patients undergoing NF-ET. Intervention (s): Embryos were cultured from the pronucleate stage to ET in medium with glucose for patients in the control group and without glucose for patients in the trial group. Main Outcome Measure(s): Comparison of embryo quality and pregnancy rates b etween the two groups. Result(s): Embryo quality was enhanced with the use of glucose-free medium but pregnancy rates were similar. Conclusion(s): Although pregnancy rates remained similar in the two groups, a reduction in the glucose concentration of the medium used for embryo cul ture from the pronucleate stage to ET on day 2 or 3 is prudent. (C) 1999 by American Society for Reproductive Medicine.