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Updated: Mar 24, 2026
Morphometric Protocol for the Objective Assessment of Blastocyst Behavior During Vitrification and Warming Steps
Published on: February 28, 2019
Blastocyst collapse is not an independent predictor of reduced live birth: a time-lapse study
Daniel Bodri1, Takeshi Sugimoto1, Jazmina Yao Serna1
1Kobe Motomachi Yume Clinic, Kobe, Japan.
Objective:
To ascertain the rate of blastocyst collapse observed by time-lapse monitoring in a retrospective cohort of unselected infertile patients undergoing single blastocyst transfer and to determine its association with live birth.
Design:
Blastocyst collapse and morphokinetic variables were scored according to previously published criteria. The association between blastocyst collapse and live birth was evaluated by a multivariate logistic regression analysis including morphokinetic variables and other confounders.
Setting:
Private infertility clinic.
Patient(S):
Patients who underwent 277 consecutive single blastocyst transfers (mean age, 38.4 ± 3.9 years; range, 28-47 years) after minimal ovarian stimulation.
Intervention(S):
Minimal ovarian stimulation, prolonged embryo culture in time-lapse monitoring incubator, elective vitrification with subsequent vitrified-warmed single blastocyst transfer.
Main Outcome Measure(S):
Live birth rate per single blastocyst transfer in different blastocyst collapse groups (no, single, multiple collapses).
Result(S):
No, single, or multiple blastocyst collapses occurred in 54% (150/277), 22% (61/277), and 24% (66/277) of the cohort, respectively. In the multiple collapse group on average 2.9 contractions were seen (range, 2-9 contractions). Live birth rate decreased progressively between blastocyst collapse groups (36%, 31%, 14%); significantly lower if multiple collapses occurred. In a multivariate analysis, however, blastocyst collapse was not found to be a significant predictor and was confounded by stronger predictors such as morphokinetic variables t2, texpB2, and female age.
Conclusion(S):
Blastocyst collapse pattern should not be evaluated alone without taking into account morphokinetic variables that are stronger predictors of reproductive outcome.
