Morphometric analysis is used to determine embryo volume. Researchers from UZ Leuven Campus Gasthuisberg recently completed a study using morphometric analysis to determine if embryo volume played an important part in clinical pregnancy rates. The study was published in the journal Human Reproduction.
Doctors are already aware of the possible implications of using images from the morphometric analysis are large groups of embryos to determine the best embryos for implantation using assisted reproduction technology (ART). Using the best embryos results in higher rates of clinical pregnancy, but these studies have not taken the volume of embryos into consideration.
Researchers used 458 embryos from patients under 36 years of age as the participant pool. Patients were in the first or second cycle of ICSI/IVF and embryos were only used once. Volume for each embryo was measured on days one, two and three.
Conclusion: Higher embryo volumes on days two and three resulted in improved rates of clinical pregnancy. It was noted that some bias may exist in the study results because the best embryos were chosen for transfer before the volume was measured. The choice of the best embryo opens the possibility of bias.
Source: Paternot G, Debrock S, De Neubourg D, D'Hooghe TM, Spiessens C. Semi-automated morphometric analysis of human embryos can reveal correlations between total embryo volume and clinical pregnancy. Hum Reprod. 2013 Jan 12.
