A prospective study on oocyte survival rate after ICSI: influence of injection technique and morphological features

PURPOSE: To determine the influence of technical pitfalls and oocyte morphology on survival rate and cleavage behavior after ICSI. METHODS: A total of 2210 injection procedures was examined for morphological and technical deviations. Survival rate and cleavage behavior were evaluated. RESULTS: In 77.8% of all cases ICSI was unsuspicous. Out of 491 deviations from optimal injection deep penetration of the oocyte and abundant presence of cumulus cells showed significant correlation with degeneration rate (p < 0.001). Morphological anomalies associated with the periphery of the oocyte were rather related to degeneration than cytoplasmic anomalies (p < 0.001). Early embryonic development was not impaired by technical or morphological parameters. CONCLUSIONS: To conclude, these prospective data may be of prognostic value in regard of the number of embryos available for transfer and may help to improve treatment outcome.