May 30th, 2023

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Title:
Assisted Oocyte Activation in Recurrent Fertilization Failure
Authors:  Mohamed Atef Behery, M.D., Nahid Hussein Mohamed, M.D., Hend Salah Abdelmonem, M.D., Amira Badr Mehany, Ph.D., and Doaa Abdelrazek Alaswad, M.Sc.
  OBJECTIVE: Despite the high success rate of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), total fertilization failure still occurs in up to 3% of all ICSI cycles and can recur in subsequent cycles, even when enough oocytes and motile spermatozoa are available. Several reports show that most couples suffering from ICSI failure benefit from the application of ICSI combined with assisted oocyte activation. A variety of artificial activating methods is used in human assisted reproduction treatment, including physical, mechanical, or chemical stimuli, which provoke one or more calcium rises in the oocyte cytoplasm.

STUDY DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial. Setting: a university fertility center. Subjects: 150 infertile patients who underwent ICSI and all had a history of recurrent fertilization failure. The patients were randomly allocated into 2 equal groups. Group 1=75 patients who underwent ICSI without oocyte activation. Group 2=75 patients who underwent ICSI with oocyte activation. Reproductive outcomes were compared between both groups.

RESULTS: There were significant differences between the groups regarding the number of oocytes retrieved, number of the mature oocytes, fertilization rate, and pregnancy rate.

CONCLUSION: Assisted oocyte activation with calcium ionophore results in significant improvement in the fertilization, cleavage, and pregnancy rates after ICSI.
Keywords:  assisted oocyte activation, assisted reproductive technologies, calcium ionophores, failed fertilization, fertilization, ICSI, intracytoplasmic sperm injection, oocyte activation, oocytes
   
   
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