Summary: | OBJECTIVES: There is a tendency to adopt prolonged culture inolder patients; however there are no conclusive results about theinfluence of age on blastulation rate. Therefore, we decided to analyzethe influence of female age on prolonged culture results. METHODS:One hundred and seven ICSI procedures performed in our centerfrom January 1999 to December 2000 were retrospectively analyzed.The blastulation rate was verified and correlated with patient age.RESULTS: In average, 2.8 blastocysts/patient were transferred. Theblastulation rate for each age group was: 180 (32%) in the group <35 years; 163 (29%) in the group 35-40 years, and 118 (21%) in thegroup > 40 years. The statistical analysis demonstrated a significantdifference (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The percentage of embryosthat achieved the blastocyst stage was different in each age groupand this percentage dropped as patient age increased. Female agemay influence on blastulation rate of pre-embryos, observing a dropin this rate as patient age increased.
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