The influence of in-vitro development upon post-thaw survival and implantation of cryopreserved human blastocysts.

Blastocysts from 198 patients were frozen using glycerol as cryoprotectant. No difference in the post-thaw survival of blastocysts or implantation rates was found between 177 patients (122 transfers) with all surplus embryos cultured to blastocysts before freezing and 20 patients (12 transfers) whose embryos were considered unsuitable for freezing during cleavage and were then frozen as blastocysts. Nineteen pregnancies were achieved, of which six aborted. Pre-freezing morphology was similar in blastocysts of patients in groups 1 and 2 and did not relate to their survival after cryopreservation. A significantly lower proportion with suspected damage after thawing was present among patients becoming pregnant after transfers of single blastocysts (P less than 0.01) and implanting embryos were in general more expanded at the time of transfer. No differences were detected between blastocysts resulting in normal development and those leading to abortion. The developmental consequences of damage to human blastocysts are discussed.