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Comparison of two ready-to-use systems designed for sperm-hyaluronic acid binding selection before intracytoplasmic
Lodovico Parmegiani1, Graciela Estela Cognigni, Silvia Bernardi
1Reproductive Medicine Unit, GynePro Medical Centers, Bologna, Italy. l.parmegiani@gynepro.it
Objective:
To compare, in a strict, randomized way, the efficiency of two ready-to-use systems for hyaluronic acid (HA)-intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI): an HA culture dish (PICSI Sperm Selection Device) and a viscous medium containing HA (Sperm Slow).
Design:
Prospective, randomized study.
Setting:
Medical center.
Patient(S):
Fifty subjects per treatment group (100 total).
Intervention(S):
One hundred ICSI treatments were randomly carried out with PICSI or with Sperm Slow for sperm selection. Randomization was conducted with sealed envelopes. Intracytoplasmic sperm injection was performed by a single embryologist with 5 years' experience in HA-ICSI.
Primary Outcome Measure:
good-quality embryo rate.
Secondary Outcome Measures:
oocyte fertilization, pregnancy and implantation rate, and the duration of the ICSI procedure.
Result(S):
The good-quality embryo rate was comparable between the two groups (58.5% with PICSI vs. 56% with Sperm Slow). Overall there were no statistically significant differences in secondary outcome measures except ICSI procedure duration, which was 3 minutes longer in the PICSI group.
Conclusion(S):
Both PICSI and Sperm Slow allow comparable clinical efficiency in selecting HA-bound spermatozoa.
Clinical Trial Registration Number:
ISRCTN72668039.
