[Fertilization failure in IVF and ICSI]

To assess male and female clinical and biological parameters that may explain fertilization failure in vitro fertilization (IVF) and IVF with intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).

Retrospective case-control study including 1282 IVF or ICSI cycles at the centre hospitalier universitaire of Nantes from September 2010 to February 2012. The "Fertilization Failure" group, showing no sign of fertilization, has been compared with the "Control patients" group, getting at least one embryo.

Several significant differences were noted as, in the "Fertilization Failure" group, lower values of antral follicles (P<0.05), of inseminated oocytes (P<0.001) and active sperm (P<0.001) in IVF, and a lower quantity and quality of oocytes (P<0.001) in ICSI. The correlation tests have confirmed a significant association with these parameters. However, the logistic regression tests did not identify explanatory or predictive factor in IVF or ICSI.

In our study, in accordance with literature data, impaired sperm parameters were mainly involved in complete fertilization failure in IVF, and a lower oocyte quality in ICSI.