The intra-vaginal culture technique for supernumerary oocytes from gamete intra-Fallopian transfer.

The intra-vaginal culture technique has been utilized for supernumerary oocytes produced as a result of gamete intra-Fallopian transfer therapy. This has enabled knowledge regarding fertilization to be gained and in addition, by adapting the technique to include a transportational element, it has been possible to perform embryo cryopreservation in a separate unit. Analysis of the results of 72 GIFT treatment cycles reveals that when more than four oocytes were collected at laparoscopy, 15/32 (47%) pregnancies were achieved, in comparison with 7/40 pregnancies (17.5%) when four or fewer oocytes were recovered (P less than 0.01). Whilst the GIFT pregnancy rate was higher when spare oocytes were fertilized and embryos cryopreserved (9/16; 56%), six of the 16 patients (37.5%) with failed fertilization of spare oocytes still achieved a GIFT pregnancy.