Petrogiannis Nikos, Filippa Maria, Chatzovoulou Kalliopi, Petrogiannis Savvas, Chatzimeletiou Katerina
Assisted Reproductive Technology Unit, Naval Hospital of Athens, Athens, GRC.
Unit for Human Reproduction, 1st Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, GRC.
Cureus. 2025 Apr 24;17(4):e82927. doi: 10.7759/cureus.82927. eCollection 2025 Apr.
maturation (IVM) of oocytes represents an assisted reproductive technique with minimal or no ovarian stimulation application, rendering it beneficial for specific groups of patients facing infertility. IVM is based on the collection of immature cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) from antral follicles, subsequently cultured until they reach the metaphase II (MII) stage. Once maturation is accomplished, IVM oocytes are fertilized according to standard procedures. A variation of IVM is the "Rescue-IVM" protocol, which involves the maturation of immature COCs collected after a conventional fertilization (IVF) cycle, with a standard controlled ovarian stimulation protocol and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) maturation triggering. These immature COCs are cultured from the germinal vesicle (GV) on retrieval day (day zero) to the MII stage on the maturation check day (day one), prior to intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). In this study, we report five cases of patients who underwent an assisted reproductive technology (ART) cycle combined with modified Rescue-IVM, resulting in successful pregnancies. These cases offer high hope for patients with no synchronized follicles during ovarian stimulation to achieve a pregnancy, even when the fertilization occurs up to 28 hours post oocyte retrieval.
卵母细胞的体外成熟(IVM)是一种辅助生殖技术,应用极少或不进行卵巢刺激,对面临不孕不育的特定患者群体有益。IVM基于从窦卵泡中采集未成熟的卵丘-卵母细胞复合体(COC),随后进行培养直至其达到中期II(MII)期。一旦成熟完成,IVM卵母细胞按照标准程序进行受精。IVM的一种变体是“挽救性IVM”方案,该方案涉及在常规受精(IVF)周期后采集的未成熟COC的成熟,采用标准的控制性卵巢刺激方案并触发人绒毛膜促性腺激素(hCG)成熟。这些未成熟的COC在取回日(第零天)从生发泡(GV)开始培养,直至在成熟检查日(第一天)达到MII期,然后进行卵胞浆内单精子注射(ICSI)。在本研究中,我们报告了5例接受辅助生殖技术(ART)周期联合改良挽救性IVM并成功妊娠的患者。这些病例为卵巢刺激期间无同步卵泡的患者带来了很高的妊娠希望,即使受精发生在卵母细胞取回后长达28小时。