Vitrification Versus Slow Cooling of Human Cleavage Stage Embryos

NCT ID: NCT00886431

Last Updated: 2014-12-02

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

TERMINATED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

146 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2009-05-31

Brief Summary

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Human embryos can be preserved for later transfers by freezing. Traditionally the slow cooling method has been used. About 70% of the embryos remain fully intact after thawing. However, the remaining 30% of the embryos become (partially) damaged, and this freezing damage reduces their chance to implant. Recently an ultra rapid freezing method, called vitrification has been developed. During vitrification no damaging ice crystals are formed and the embryo freezes in a glass like state.

It appears that the freezing damage is reduced when embryos are vitrified. Observational studies in humans indicate that embryos are successfully preserved by vitrification, as indicated by promising pregnancy rates following thawing. However, the effectiveness of vitrification in relation to slow cooling with respect to pregnancy rates has so far not been evaluated by a randomised, controlled trial. The aim of this study is to investigate whether vitrification significantly improves embryo survival and ongoing pregnancy rates when compared to embryos frozen by slow cooling.

Detailed Description

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time of allocation: following embryo selection

type of embryos: cleavage stage -, morula stage or early blastocyst stage embryo (day3 - day4 after oocyte collection)

cryoprotectants: sucrose, dimethylsulfoxide, ethyleneglycol

vitrification storage device: high security vitrification straws

Conditions

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Infertility

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

DOUBLE

Participants Caregivers

Study Groups

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Vitrification

The embryos of patients allocated to this arm will be cryopreserved by vitrification.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

embryo vitrification

Intervention Type OTHER

Ultra rapid cooling of embryos by immersion in liquid nitrogen. The formation of potentially damaging ice crystals is prevented by briefly incubating the embryos in high concentrations of a mix of cryoprotectants.

Slow cooling

The embryos of patients allocated to this arm will be cryopreserved by the slow cooling method, which is the standard method (=no intervention)

Group Type NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

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embryo vitrification

Ultra rapid cooling of embryos by immersion in liquid nitrogen. The formation of potentially damaging ice crystals is prevented by briefly incubating the embryos in high concentrations of a mix of cryoprotectants.

Intervention Type OTHER

Other Intervention Names

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vitrification high security vitrification straws

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* female patient age 35 years or less
* embryos are obtained by in vitro fertilization (IVF) or intra cytoplasmatic spermatozoon injection (ICSI)
* single embryo transfer
* 1rst IVF/ICSI treatment with an embryo transfer
* availability of cryopreservable embryos

Exclusion Criteria

* female patient age is 36 years or older
* participants of oocyte donation program
* participants of percutaneous spermatozoon aspiration (PESA) program
* couples with a finite source of spermatozoa
* absence of cryopreservable embryos
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

35 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sponsors

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Vrije Universiteit Brussel

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

UMC Utrecht

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Bart CJM Fauser

Prof. dr. B Fauser

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

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Bart C Fauser, Prof.,MD,PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

UMC Utrecht

Locations

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Academic Hospital of Brussels

Brussels, , Belgium

Site Status

University Medical Center of Utrecht

Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands

Site Status

Countries

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Belgium Netherlands

References

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Boonkusol D, Gal AB, Bodo S, Gorhony B, Kitiyanant Y, Dinnyes A. Gene expression profiles and in vitro development following vitrification of pronuclear and 8-cell stage mouse embryos. Mol Reprod Dev. 2006 Jun;73(6):700-8. doi: 10.1002/mrd.20450.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 16541460 (View on PubMed)

Burns WN, Gaudet TW, Martin MB, Leal YR, Schoen H, Eddy CA, Schenken RS. Survival of cryopreservation and thawing with all blastomeres intact identifies multicell embryos with superior frozen embryo transfer outcome. Fertil Steril. 1999 Sep;72(3):527-32. doi: 10.1016/s0015-0282(99)00280-0.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 10519629 (View on PubMed)

Desai N, Blackmon H, Szeptycki J, Goldfarb J. Cryoloop vitrification of human day 3 cleavage-stage embryos: post-vitrification development, pregnancy outcomes and live births. Reprod Biomed Online. 2007 Feb;14(2):208-13. doi: 10.1016/s1472-6483(10)60789-4.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 17298725 (View on PubMed)

Edgar DH, Bourne H, Speirs AL, McBain JC. A quantitative analysis of the impact of cryopreservation on the implantation potential of human early cleavage stage embryos. Hum Reprod. 2000 Jan;15(1):175-9. doi: 10.1093/humrep/15.1.175.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 10611209 (View on PubMed)

Kasai M, Mukaida T. Cryopreservation of animal and human embryos by vitrification. Reprod Biomed Online. 2004 Aug;9(2):164-70. doi: 10.1016/s1472-6483(10)62125-6.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 15333245 (View on PubMed)

Mukaida T, Nakamura S, Tomiyama T, Wada S, Kasai M, Takahashi K. Successful birth after transfer of vitrified human blastocysts with use of a cryoloop containerless technique. Fertil Steril. 2001 Sep;76(3):618-20. doi: 10.1016/s0015-0282(01)01968-9.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 11532492 (View on PubMed)

Rama Raju GA, Haranath GB, Krishna KM, Prakash GJ, Madan K. Vitrification of human 8-cell embryos, a modified protocol for better pregnancy rates. Reprod Biomed Online. 2005 Oct;11(4):434-7. doi: 10.1016/s1472-6483(10)61135-2.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 16274602 (View on PubMed)

Salumets A, Suikkari AM, Makinen S, Karro H, Roos A, Tuuri T. Frozen embryo transfers: implications of clinical and embryological factors on the pregnancy outcome. Hum Reprod. 2006 Sep;21(9):2368-74. doi: 10.1093/humrep/del151. Epub 2006 May 9.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 16684837 (View on PubMed)

Sheehan CB, Lane M, Gardner DK. The CryoLoop facilitates re-vitrification of embryos at four successive stages of development without impairing embryo growth. Hum Reprod. 2006 Nov;21(11):2978-84. doi: 10.1093/humrep/del253. Epub 2006 Sep 1.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 16950825 (View on PubMed)

Stehlik E, Stehlik J, Katayama KP, Kuwayama M, Jambor V, Brohammer R, Kato O. Vitrification demonstrates significant improvement versus slow freezing of human blastocysts. Reprod Biomed Online. 2005 Jul;11(1):53-7. doi: 10.1016/s1472-6483(10)61298-9.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 16102287 (View on PubMed)

Takahashi K, Mukaida T, Goto T, Oka C. Perinatal outcome of blastocyst transfer with vitrification using cryoloop: a 4-year follow-up study. Fertil Steril. 2005 Jul;84(1):88-92. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2004.12.051.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 16009162 (View on PubMed)

Al-Hasani S, Ozmen B, Koutlaki N, Schoepper B, Diedrich K, Schultze-Mosgau A. Three years of routine vitrification of human zygotes: is it still fair to advocate slow-rate freezing? Reprod Biomed Online. 2007 Mar;14(3):288-93. doi: 10.1016/s1472-6483(10)60869-3.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 17359578 (View on PubMed)

Liebermann J, Tucker MJ. Comparison of vitrification and conventional cryopreservation of day 5 and day 6 blastocysts during clinical application. Fertil Steril. 2006 Jul;86(1):20-6. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2006.01.029. Epub 2006 Jun 8.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 16762345 (View on PubMed)

Yokota Y, Sato S, Yokota M, Yokota H, Araki Y. Birth of a healthy baby following vitrification of human blastocysts. Fertil Steril. 2001 May;75(5):1027-9. doi: 10.1016/s0015-0282(01)01685-5.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 11334922 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

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CCMO NL23499.000.08

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: secondary_id

METC 08/183

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: secondary_id

Vitrification study

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id