Here you’ll find a brief summary of new IVF studies for July* that I think are helpful for patients. I’ll be updating this post each week of July with new studies, before making a separate post for next month.
*Note that the publication dates of these studies might be outside of the indicated period, mostly because of how PubMed indexes the article.
🔗 Original studies are referenced in this post or within the linked Remembryo posts.
💡 Reminder: Terms underlined with a dotted black line are linked to glossary entries. Clicking these does not count toward your paywall limit.
Table of Contents
Week 1 (July 2 – July 8)
The prevalence of endometriosis in unexplained infertility: a systematic review. This review investigated how common endometriosis is in patients with unexplained infertility, finding that 44% of these patients had minimal or mild endometriosis.
A modified flexible GnRH antagonist protocol using antagonist early cessation and a gonadotropin step-down approach improves live birth rates in fresh cycles: a randomized controlled trial. Some studies have shown that a fresh transfer after a GnRH antagonist cycle results in lower live birth rates compared to agonist cycles. A randomized controlled trial (high quality study) optimized the GnRH antagonist protocol by “stepping down” gonadotropin (FSH) dose and stopping GnRH antagonist administration on the day of hCG trigger, resulting in higher live birth rates after a fresh transfer.
The correlation between menstrual characteristics and fertility in women of reproductive age: a systematic review and meta-analysis. This meta-analysis combined the results of 9 studies that studied the relationship between menstrual characteristics and fertility. They found that women with a short (<25 days) or long (>32 days) menstrual cycle had an increased risk of miscarriage. They also found that women with a late first period (>14 years), and those with a short duration of menstrual bleeding, had reduced fertility.
The effects of mindfulness therapy on infertile female patients: A meta-analysis. A meta-analysis combined the results of 14 RCTs examining the effectiveness of mindfulness-based therapy in infertility patients. They found this therapy could reduce anxiety, depression and could improve quality of life.
Week 2 (July 9 – July 15)
Quantifying the association of sperm DNA fragmentation with assisted reproductive technology outcomes: An umbrella review. This meta-analysis combined the results of 22 reviews that investigated the evidence for sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF) and pregnancy and IVF outcomes. Analysis of these reviews showed that most had “critically low” quality of evidence that showed a weak or nonsignificant association between SDF and rates for live birth, pregnancy, blastocyst formation and fertilization.
The importance of the ‘uterine factor’ in recurrent pregnancy loss: a retrospective cohort study on women screened through 3D transvaginal ultrasound. This study used 3D transvaginal ultrasound to evaluate how common uterine anomalies are in patients with recurrent pregnancy loss. They found that 7-14% RPL patients showed partial septate, 3-4% showed a T-shaped uterus, 23% showed adenomyosis, 4% showed type 0/1/2 myoma and 4% showed endometrial polyps.
Does extreme psychological burden (Hamas terrorist attack on October 7th, 2023) affect in vitro fertilization outcome? This study compared IVF outcomes for 23 patients who had their first retrieval before the 2023 Hamas terrorist attack and the second retrieval shortly after, in order to evaluate how intense psychological distress can impact IVF outcomes. The second cycle showed no differences in the number of eggs retrieved or fertilization rate, but there were lower numbers of top-quality embryos and reductions in total motile sperm count.
The Impact of Embryo Quality on Pregnancy Outcomes in Single Day 5 versus Day 6 Euploid Blastocyst Transfer: A Retrospective Cohort Study. This study compared day 5 and day 6 euploid transfer outcomes. They found that day 5 euploids had a higher live birth rate, which was influenced by embryo quality.
Week 3 (July 16 – July 22)
The use of an embryo transfer simulator to compare transfer techniques and pregnancy outcomes among physicians. This study compared physician technique during mock embryo transfers using a simulator, with their individual historical pregnancy outcomes from the clinic. Doctors that had shorter embryo transfer times had increased odds of live birth, while higher ectopic pregnancy rates were associated with doctors that placed the catheter closer to the fundus (the part of the uterus that’s farthest from the opening) or ejected the embryo at a higher speed.
Meta-analysis of intrauterine hCG perfusion efficacy in recurrent implantation failure as defined by ESHRE guidelines. This meta-analysis combined the results of 13 studies examining the use of intrauterine hCG (administration of hCG into the uterus) on pregnancy outcomes for patients with recurrent implantation failure. They found slight increases in clinical pregnancy and live birth rates, but there was a large amount of variability between the studies.
Cellular mechanisms of monozygotic twinning: clues from assisted reproduction. This study reviewed research on how embryos can split into dichorionic or monochorionic monozygotic (identical) twins. They found that a loose inner cell mass and “8-shaped hatching” patterns (where the embryo is squished into an 8 shape as it’s hatching) can encourage the ICM to split and form two embryos.
Resveratrol ameliorates mitochondrial biogenesis and reproductive outcomes in women with polycystic ovary syndrome undergoing assisted reproduction: a randomized, triple-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. This RCT examined the impact of the antioxidant supplement resveratrol in patients with PCOS. Resveratrol increased the total antioxidant capacity of follicular fluid, with increases in egg maturity and the rate of high quality embryos, but with no differences in clinical pregnancy rates.
Week 4 (July 23 – July 29)
Antioxidants and Fertility in Women with Ovarian Ageing: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. A meta-analysis combined the results of 20 randomized controlled trials (high quality studies) that evaluated the safety and effectiveness of antioxidant supplements for advanced female age or diminished ovarian reserve (DOR). Overall, there was an improvement in clinical pregnancy rates and the number of high quality embryos obtained, but no differences in live birth rates, miscarriage rates or the number of retrieved eggs. Across the various supplements examined, only CoQ10 showed a benefit, particularly for those taking a low dose for at least 3 months.
Effect of different treatment protocols on in vitro fertilisation/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF/ICSI) outcomes in adenomyosis women: a systematic review and meta-analysis. A meta-analysis combined the results of 21 studies that evaluated IVF and pregnancy outcomes in adenomyosis patients. Patients with adenomyosis had lower rates of clinical pregnancy and live birth, with an increase in miscarriage rates. Frozen transfers didn’t show any differences in these outcomes, suggesting that FETs may be a better choice for adenomyosis patients.
Current treatment for male infertility: an umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses. An “umbrella review” combined the results of multiple meta-analyses and reviews that evaluated the effectiveness of treatments for male infertility. An improvement in sperm concentration, motility and morphology was seen with N-acetyl-cysteine, aromatase inhibitors, alpha-lipoic acid, varicocele repair and other interventions.
Livebirth rate after one frozen embryo transfer in ovulatory women starting with natural, modified natural, or artificial endometrial preparation in Viet Nam: an open-label randomised controlled trial. This RCT examined the best endometrial preparation protocol for FET cycles. There were no differences in live birth rates among patients who had a natural, modified natural or medicated FET.
The density of the inner cell mass is a new indicator of the quality of a human blastocyst: a valid supplement to the Gardner scoring system. This study found that the density of the ICM was associated with chances of euploidy and live birth.
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About Embryoman
Embryoman (Sean Lauber) is a former embryologist and the founder of Remembryo, an IVF research and fertility education website. After working in an IVF lab in the US, he returned to Canada and now focuses on making fertility research more accessible. He holds a Master’s in Immunology and launched Remembryo in 2018 to help patients and professionals make sense of IVF research. Sean shares weekly study updates on Facebook, Instagram, and Reddit regularly. He also answers questions on Reddit or in his private Facebook group.
Related posts:
Highlights from ESHRE’s 39th Annual Meeting (2023)
Monthly IVF research brief for November 2023
Monthly IVF research brief for January 2024
Monthly IVF research brief for March 2024
Monthly IVF research brief for April 2024
Study examines risk of mortality in women with a history of adverse pregnancy outcomes
Monthly IVF research brief for June 2024
Highlights from ESHRE’s 40th Annual Meeting (2024)