Semen parameters on the day of oocyte retrieval predict low fertilization during conventional insemination IVF cycles

Poor fertilization during conventional IVF is difficult to predict in the absence of abnormal semen parameters; large-scale studies are lacking. The purpose of this study is to evaluate factors associated with low fertilization rates in conventional insemination IVF cycles.

A retrospective cohort study evaluating demographic, reproductive evaluation, and IVF cycle characteristics to identify predictors of low fertilization (defined as 2PN/MII ≤ 30% per cycle). Participants were included if they were undergoing their first IVF cycle utilizing fresh autologous oocytes and conventional insemination with male partner's sperm (with normal pretreatment semen analysis). They were randomly divided into a training set and a validation set; validation modeling with logistic regression and binary distribution was utilized to identify covariates associated with low fertilization.

Postprocessing sperm concentration of less than 40 million/ml and postprocessing sperm motility < 50% on the day of retrieval were the strongest predictors of low fertilization in the training dataset. Next, in the validation set, cycles with either low postprocessing concentration (≤ 40 million/ml) or low postprocessing progressive motility (≤ 50%) were 2.9-times (95% CI 1.4, 6.2) more likely to have low fertilization than cycles without either risk factor. Furthermore, cycles with low postprocessing concentration and progressive motility were 13.4 times (95% CI 4.01, 45.06) more likely to have low fertilization than cycles without either risk factor.

Postprocessing concentration and progressive motility on the day of oocyte retrieval are predictive of low fertilization in conventional IVF cycles with normal pretreatment diagnostic semen analysis parameters.