P-201 Developmental analysis of blastocysts with blastomere exclusion during compaction and its relationship to pregnancy outcomes and preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy results
Authors: Nakano S , Shioya M , Sugirura T , Fujita M , Takahashi K 
Published: June 2023

Study question

What effects do blastocysts with blastomere exclusion during compaction have on embryo morphokinetics, morphology grade, genetic testing for aneuploidy (PGT-A) results, and pregnancy outcomes?

Summary answer

Blastocysts with blastomere exclusion leads to delay blastulation and poor morphology grade, but does not affect pregnancy outcomes and euploidy in PGT-A.

What is known already

It has been reported that aneuploid blastomeres are excluded during compaction, which is a mechanism for chromosome repair in blastocysts through the exclusion of aneuploid cells.Furthermore, in this phenomenon, it is known that the first cleavage of embryos is often abnormal, in which three or more cells originate from a single cell division event.However, this phenomenon has not been reported in the evaluation of embryo morphokinetics, artificial intelligence (AI) scores, or PGT-A results.

Study design, size, duration

In this retrospective study, we analyzed clinical medical reports at the Takahashi Women’s Clinic in Japan. We included 934 blastocysts cultured in a time-lapse incubator (EmbryoScope) after intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) from January 2018 to June 2021.

Participants/materials, setting, methods

Blastocysts cultured using a time-lapse incubator (EmbryoScope) after ICSI were classified into a control group (N = 515) with blastomere compaction or a BE group (N = 419) with blastomere exclusion during compaction. The first type of cleavage, AI score (IDAScore), embryo morphokinetics, and single frozen-thawed blastocyst transfer outcome were evaluated.Logistic regression analysis was performed to compare the two groups, considering patient age, blastocyst grade (Gardner classification), culture days, body mass index, and basal anti-Müllerian hormone level.

Main results and the role of chance

Comparing the control and BE groups, the first cleavage abnormality rate was 16.9% vs. 67.3% (P &lt; 0.001), the percentage with good embryo grade (Gardner criteria ≧BB) was 93.4% vs. 61.0% (P &lt; 0.001), and the mean score by AI analysis was 8.3 ± 1.3 vs. 6.4 ± 1.9 (P &lt; 0.001), respectively. The BE group had a higher rate of abnormal cleavage and a significantly worse embryo grade and AI score than the control group.In the evaluation of embryo morphokinetics, the time to morula was 84.2 ± 7.0 h vs. 89.0 ± 8.5 h (P &lt; 0.05) and time to blastocyst was 105.9 ± 9.4 h vs. 114.7 ± 11.4 h (P &lt; 0.05). The BE group significantly delayed blastulation compared to the control group.The euploidy, mosaicism, and aneuploidy rates of PGT-A were 13.6% (9/66), 9.1% (6/66), and 77.3% (51/66) in the control group vs. 13.2% (5/38), 13.2% (5/38), and 73.7% (28/38) in the BE group, respectively. There was no significant difference in the PGT-A results between the two groups. Furthermore, the single-blastocyst transfer pregnancy rates (gestational sac with heart activity) in the control and BE groups were 47.1% (147/312) and 32.6% (60/184), respectively. Pregnancy rate was lower in the BE group, but was not significantly different from that of the control group.

Limitations, reasons for caution

The study was conducted at a single in vitro fertilization center. Embryo transfer results were based on ongoing pregnancies, while live birth data for all pregnancies are not yet available.

Wider implications of the findings

Although the BE group was graded worse, statistical analysis considering the grade showed no significant difference in PGT-A and pregnancy rates between the two groups.These results suggest that blastocysts with blastomere exclusion can be useful as transferable embryos if they grow to a transferable grade.

Trial registration number

not applicable