P–428 Uterine infusion of autologous platelet rich plasma (PRP) before embryo transfer may improve the transfer outcomes in recurrent implantation failure and thin/scarred endometrium patients
Authors: Bach H A , Vuong V V H , Bach T T C , Nguyen Q H , Pham V P , Nguyen T N 
Published: August 2021

Study question

Does the infusion of autologous platelet rich plasma (PRP) to the uterus improve the outcomes of embryo transfer of thin endometrial or recurrent implantation failure (RIF) patients?

Summary answer

Autologous PRP uterine infusion may improve the result of embryo transfer (ET) in RIF group and thin/scarred endometrial group.

What is known already

Autologous PRP has been proposed to improve the outcomes of various treatment procedures. In infertility, several trials have reported an improvement in endometrial thickness in patients having thin endometrium thus previously cancelled ET cycles. Uterine injection of PRP shortly before ET has been proposed to improve the results of ET in patients having RIF. Platelets in PRP would be activated via different pathways to release growth factors and cytokines. In this study, we applied our in-house-developed PRP extraction kits that use a mechanical activation/platelet breaking down method to infuse/inject into the uterine of the poor prognosis transfer patients.

Study design, size, duration

This study includes two phases: Phase 1 (04/2019–12/2019): we tested the safety and effectiveness of the PRP extraction kits in 30 volunteers regardless of the gender by derma-rolling process using PRP extracted by our kits. Phase 2 (02/2020–12/2020): 111 IVF patients who had thin/scarred endometrium previously having at least one cancelled ET cycle (group 1) or patients who had at least two implantation failure ETs (group 2) were enrolled in the study.

Participants/materials, setting, methods

20 mL blood was drawn from the vein. After centrifugation, PRP was filtrated through a filter to break down platelets releasing growth factors/cytokines. Firstly, 30 volunteers (average age of 34.4 ± 5.5) were derma-rolled on the facial skin twice (one week apart). Secondly, IVF group 1 was uterine-infused with 0.5 mL PRP on day 7/8 of the ET cycle, both groups were uterine-infused with 0.5 mL PRP two days (40–48 hours) before ET.

Main results and the role of chance

0.5 mL of PRP before filtering was measured and calculated to have 8–12 folds increase of platelet concentration. In phase 1, no side-effects or complications were recorded. The average skin pore size reduced by approximately 0.01 mm2 in all patients two weeks after treatment. In phase 2, the average age was 35.6 ± 6.1. Group 1 had 31 patients and group 2 had 99 ones. In group 1, five patient did not obtained improvement in endometrium then ET cycles were cancelled, one patient did not have blastocyst to transfer and 25 patients had endometrium of at least 7 mm thick before ET and ET (100 frozen ET) were carried on. One couple was not contactable. Out of 24 couples, 13 had biochemical pregnancy (54.2%) and 11 had clinical pregnancy (44.0%). Group 2 had 80 patients. One of them did not have embryo to transfer. 37/79 embryo transfers had biochemical pregnancy (46.8%) and 44.3% clinical pregnancy. No complication was recorded. In our cohort, several successful patients had more than 7 unsuccessful ETs previously. For reference, in 2020, our clinic had 4260 ETs in total, the clinical pregnancy rate was 60.1%, the average age was 31.82 years old.

Limitations, reasons for caution

Each case in phase 2 of this study had a complicated fertility medical history therefore it was impossible to select the control group. This study is descriptive only. The size of each group was relatively small requiring ongoing data recording.

Wider implications of the findings: This study support the idea that cytokines and growth factors in PRP may help to prepare endometrium for ET, safely and effectively.

Trial registration number

Not applicable