Jean M, Barriere P, Sagot P, L'Hermite A, Lopes P
Laboratoire de Biologie de la Reproduction, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Nantes, France.
Fertil Steril. 1992 Mar;57(3):591-6. doi: 10.1016/s0015-0282(16)54905-x.
To evaluate the utility of zona drilling for human severe sperm alterations in in vitro fertilization (IVF).
A prospective randomized study was conducted according to random assignment of collected oocytes to a control or zona drilling procedure.
Reproductive Biology Laboratory, University Hospital of Nantes, France.
Twenty infertile couples with severe semen defects and previous IVF failure.
Ultrasound-guided transvaginal follicular aspiration.
Fertilization rates were compared to assess the advantages of zona drilling: 93% (80/86) drilled oocytes survived and 18.75% (15) were fertilized, whereas only 3% (3/100) control oocytes were fertilized. The polyspermy rate for fertilized drilled oocytes was high (10/15; 66.6%). The normal fertilization rate after zona drilling remained very low (5/86; 5.8%) and was not statistically different from that of control oocytes (3/100; 3%). One implantation occurred after replacement of five drilled embryos in three patients but resulted in early miscarriage. Replacement of the single control embryo led to a progressive pregnancy and normal male birth.
This study indicates that zona drilling does not improve IVF results in cases of severe semen alterations.
