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Purpose: The objective of this retrospective study was to determine whether patients undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) benefit from reducing the gamete co-incubation time. Methods: Patients ( n = 570) were enrolled, including 281 patients in the reduced incubation time group (2-h incubation) and 289 patients in the standard IVF group (18-h incubation). Results: The observed outcomes, including the clinical pregnancy rate (CPR), implantation rate (IR), live birth rate (LBR), and miscarriage rate (MR), were similar between the two groups. When the data were divided into two subgroups based on the maternal age (≤30 and >30 years), the rates of top-quality embryos (30.83 vs. 25.89 %; p = 0.028), CPR (66.67 vs. 42.11 %; p = 0.013), and IR (41.90 vs. 31.25 %, p = 0.019) of the 2-h incubation group were significantly higher in the younger subgroup. However, for older patients, only a lower MR (7.59 vs. 20.83 %; p = 0.019) was achieved. Reducing the time of incubation still improved the CPR (OR = 1.993, 95 % CI 1.141-3.480) and MR (OR = 3.173, 95 % CI 1.013-9.936) in the younger and older subgroups, respectively, after it was adjusted for potential confounders. Conclusions: Reducing incubation time improves the clinical results of IVF, although the LBR is not statistically different between the 2- and 18-h incubation time groups. And the specific clinical outcomes of reducing incubation time varied between the >30-year-old and the ≤30-year-old. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To explore the optimal timing for hCG triggering by investigating the impact of different proportion of dominant follicles on the oocyte developmental competence. Methods: One hundred ninety-eight infertile women were divided into three groups according to the proportion of dominant follicles on hCG day: (1) low: <15 % ( n = 66); (2) middle: 15-27 % ( n = 66); (3) high: >27 % ( n = 66). The grouping criteria were the bottom and top tertiles of the proportion of dominant follicles. Results: The gonadotropin dosage, duration and maximum follicle diameter in the low proportion group were lower than those in the middle and high proportion groups. Oocyte maturation and the abnormal fertilization rate in the low proportion group were lower than those in the middle and high proportion groups. The normal fertilization rate did not differ among the three groups. The cleavage rate and number of transferable embryos in the low proportion group were significantly higher than those in the high proportion group. The high-quality embryo rate, implantation rate, and pregnancy rate in the low proportion group were significantly higher than those in the middle and high proportion groups. Conclusions: A high proportion of dominant follicles are closely associated with impaired oocyte developmental competence and low pregnancy rate. These findings suggest that follicular overgrowth induced by delayed hCG triggering may undermine oocyte developmental competence and the proportion of dominant follicles may be a potential parameters for hCG triggering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]