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Objective To analyze prognostic factors that are associated with a discordant outcome in egg recipients sharing oocytes from the same donor. Design Matched case-control single-center study. Setting Private infertility clinic. Patient(s) Four hundred forty-four recipients (222 pairs) sharing oocytes from the same donor and showing a discordant outcome. Intervention(s) Controlled ovarian hyperstimulation of egg donors, oocyte donation, intracytoplasmic sperm injection, and ET in egg recipients. Main Outcome Measure(s) Recipient age, obstetric (gravidity, parity) and gynecologic variables (previous uterine surgery, uterine fibroids, uterine malformations, endometriosis, history of tubal infertility), previous oocyte donation cycles, duration of E 2 replacement, received cumulus-oocyte complexes, mature (MII) oocytes, fertilized oocytes, transferred embryos, mean embryo score, transfer difficulty, and semen parameters. Result(s) No significant differences were found in the above-mentioned prognostic factors between the study and control groups. Conclusion(s) Recipient- and cycle-related prognostic factors investigated in our study were not associated with a discordant outcome in recipient pairs sharing oocytes from the same donor. Other possible prognostic factors involving oocyte donor heterogeneity, embryo aneuploidy rates, male factor infertility, and endometrial receptivity should be further investigated.

INTRODUCTION: Information is scarce regarding the outcome of oocyte donation (OD) in patients with a history of cancer treatment. Therefore, we conducted a matched controlled analysis on the outcome of OD in these recipients. METHODS: Between January 2000 and November 2005, 33 patients with a history of chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy had an OD cycle. Matching was performed to the chronologically closest patient without a history of cancer therapy by number of days of hormonal stimulation before embryo replacement, number of replaced embryos, day of embryo transfer and origin of sperm. RESULTS: The primary diseases of the patients were Hodgkin’s lymphoma (n 5 12), non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (n 5 3), leukaemia (n 5 7), ovarian cancer (n 5 6), Ewing’s sarcoma (n 5 2), breast cancer (n 5 1), sympathoblastoma (n 5 1) and histiocytosis X (n 5 1). Twentythree patients had undergone chemotherapy and radiotherapy, nine patients chemotherapy only and one radiotherapy only. The mean age of the recipients was 33.1 years [95% confidence interval (CI) 30.9–35.3] and 39.6 (95% CI 37.1–42.1) in the study and control groups, respectively. The average number of received oocytes and transferred embryos, was similar in both groups. Nineteen (57.6%) versus 13 (39.4%) pregnancies resulting in an ongoing pregnancy (i.e. viable at 12 weeks) in 15 (45.4%) versus 9 cycles (27.3%) (NS) were obtained in study and control groups, respectively. Implantation rate in study and control groups was 35.8 versus 17.9%, respectively (P 5 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that patients with a history of cancer treatment have a pregnancy rate after OD similar to that in the general population of oocyte recipients.

La mayoria de los efectos de la THS desaparecen cuando cesa el tratamiento; por eso, para que sea preventiva, se requiere que su uso sea continuado. Sin embargo, el bajo cumplimiento de las mujeres con THS, especialmente en las de mayor edad, debido a sus efectos secundarios es una constante. Dosis mas bajas de estrogenos, ademas de ser efectivas, pueden reducir la aparicion de efectos secundarios indeseables, por lo que el cumplimiento aumenta. Para administrar dosis mas bajas de estrogenos, debemos proporcionar valores de eficacia y seguridad, sin disminuir los beneficios deseados.

STUDY QUESTION How long is the individualized training and the stability of competence for the embryo transfer (ET) technique? SUMMARY ANSWER The embryo transfer technique is easy-to-learn, hardly unlearned, and training should be individualized by monitoring with learning curve-cumulative summation (LC-CUSUM) curves. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY Like many medical procedures, embryo transfer is an operator-dependent technique. Individualized or standardized training of these medical procedures should be monitored to determine when competence is acquired. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION This prospective, monocentric study involving five embryo transfer trainees was carried out between August 2011 and November 2012. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS The study was carried out in a large private clinic. Five gynaecologist trainees during their first year of assisted reproduction subspecialty performed embryo transfer for patients undergoing either fresh IVF, oocyte donor IVF, or frozen embryo transfer. There were 586 embryo transfers performed in 96 sessions of 3-10 embryo transfers each. An embryo transfer was considered successful if it gave rise to a positive pregnancy test 14 days later. LC-CUSUM and cumulative summation (CUSUM) curves were used to determine when competence was acquired and whether it was maintained over time, respectively. The length of time between two consecutive sessions was assessed for an effect on consolidation of the acquired competence. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE We observed that all five trainees became proficient in embryo transfer by procedure 15 (after procedure 15, 9, 7, 13 and 9, respectively). Once competence was achieved, one of the five trainees showed a loss of proficiency. After having acquired competence, the median pregnancy rate per embryo transfer session was significantly lower when the interval between consecutive embryo transfer sessions was ≥10 days compared with

Objective To compare pregnancy and implantation rates with transvaginal (TV) versus transabdominal (TA) ultrasound-guided embryo transfer (ET). Design Randomized, clinical trial registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT 01137461). Setting Private, infertility clinic. Patient(s) Three-hundred thirty randomized recipients of donor oocytes. Intervention(s) Embryo transfer using TV (with empty bladder, using the Kitazato ET Long catheter) versus TA ultrasound guidance (with full bladder, using the echogenic Sure View Wallace catheter). Main Outcome Measure(s) Overall pregnancy, clinical pregnancy, implantation, and ongoing pregnancy rates. Duration and difficulty of ET. Patient-reported uterine cramping and discomfort, as evaluated by questionnaire. Result(s) No statistically significant differences were observed in clinical pregnancy 50.9% versus 49.4% (95% confidence interval of the difference: −9.2 to +12.2%), implantation 34.5% versus 31.4% (95% CI of the difference: −4 to +10.3%) between the TV and TA ultrasound-guided groups. Transfer difficulty (6% versus 4.2%) and uterine cramping (27.2% versus 18.3%) were not statistically significantly different between treatment groups. Total duration (154 ± 119 versus 85 ± 76 seconds) was statistically significantly higher in the TV ultrasound group. Light to moderate-severe discomfort related to bladder distension was reported by 63% of the patients in the TA ultrasound group. Conclusion(s) Transvaginal ultrasound-guided ET yielded similar success rates compared with the TA ultrasound-guided procedure without requiring the assistance of a sonographer. It was associated with increased patient comfort due to the absence of bladder distension.

Erratum to: J Assist Reprod Genet (2015) DOI 10.1007/s10815-015-0496-0 The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake. The family name of Bjorn Heindryckx was misspelled, omitting letter “x”. The update is provided here as well.