Normal development and metabolic activity of preimplantation embryos in vitro from patients with polycystic ovaries

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is closely associated with high miscarriage rates and, following in-vitro fertilization (IVF), with decreased fertilization rates, suggesting that oocytes and embryos are of poor quality. In this prospective study, we examined the development, metabolic activity and blastocyst cell number of embryos following IVF from 51 patients with either anovulatory PCOS, ovulatory PCOS or tubal disease. The number of oocytes retrieved and the fertilization rates were similar for patients with PCOS and tubal disease. Following embryo transfer, 46% of the patients with PCOS and 36% of patients with tubal disease became pregnant. A similar proportion of surplus embryos from patients with PCOS and tubal disease developed to the blastocyst stage (38% and 43% respectively). Patients with anovulatory PCOS had embryos with less fragmentation which cleaved faster, cavitated earlier and had more cells at the blastocyst stage than embryos from patients with tubal disease. While the profile of glucose uptake and lactate production was similar for all groups throughout preimplantation development, patients with tubal disease who underwent ovulation induction using the 'titrated' regimen optimized for PCOS patients resulted in embryos with reduced pyruvate uptake, in addition to low blastocyst cell numbers. This study demonstrates that with an optimized ovulation induction regimen, embryos from PCOS patients are of good quality and developmental potential.