Mosaicism in Human Embryos: What Do We Know?

Preimplantation Genetic Testing for Aneuploidy (PGT-A) involves performing aneuploidy testing on the small number of cells biopsied from a preimplantation embryo. It is well established that aneuploidy is a common cause of implantation failure and miscarriage. In an ideal world, a measure of the chr...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Sharyn E. STOCK-MYER
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: World Scientific Publishing 2022-09-01
Series:Fertility & Reproduction
Online Access:https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/10.1142/S2661318222740322
_version_ 1798023340177227776
author Sharyn E. STOCK-MYER
author_facet Sharyn E. STOCK-MYER
author_sort Sharyn E. STOCK-MYER
collection DOAJ
description Preimplantation Genetic Testing for Aneuploidy (PGT-A) involves performing aneuploidy testing on the small number of cells biopsied from a preimplantation embryo. It is well established that aneuploidy is a common cause of implantation failure and miscarriage. In an ideal world, a measure of the chromosome status of the cells from the embryo would produce a highly specific result that would predict the fate of that embryo. One of the difficulties with PGT-A however, has been putative chromosomal mosaicism present in a proportion of tested embryos. Chromosome mosaicism became more widely reported following the use of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) as a tool for performing PGT-A. This was due to the higher dynamic range of the NGS profiles that made mosaicism in the trophectoderm biopsy more visible. Around this same time the first study was published that followed the transfer of 18 mosaic embryos, resulting in the birth of six healthy babies (Greco et al 2015). Since then, several publications have described the results of mosaic embryo transfers, including the work by Viotti et al 2021 which summarised the results of transferring 1000 mosaic embryos. These studies have the common theme that a mosaic embryo result does not clearly predict a negative pregnancy outcome, unlike a uniform aneuploid result. However, it may predict a reduced chance of pregnancy, and an increased chance of miscarriage, depending on the type of mosaicism. Reassuringly, a mosaic result in an embryo also does not seem to indicate a higher chance of having a baby with an abnormality than euploid embryos. Chromosomally mosaic embryos should not be discarded and should be considered for use with appropriate counselling of the patients.
first_indexed 2024-04-11T17:44:48Z
format Article
id doaj.art-c4a44585a79a496f9fefdf476d1105f1
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2661-3182
2661-3174
language English
last_indexed 2024-04-11T17:44:48Z
publishDate 2022-09-01
publisher World Scientific Publishing
record_format Article
series Fertility & Reproduction
spelling doaj.art-c4a44585a79a496f9fefdf476d1105f12022-12-22T04:11:24ZengWorld Scientific PublishingFertility & Reproduction2661-31822661-31742022-09-010403n0412012010.1142/S2661318222740322Mosaicism in Human Embryos: What Do We Know?Sharyn E. STOCK-MYER0Virtus Diagnostics, NSW 2210, AustraliaPreimplantation Genetic Testing for Aneuploidy (PGT-A) involves performing aneuploidy testing on the small number of cells biopsied from a preimplantation embryo. It is well established that aneuploidy is a common cause of implantation failure and miscarriage. In an ideal world, a measure of the chromosome status of the cells from the embryo would produce a highly specific result that would predict the fate of that embryo. One of the difficulties with PGT-A however, has been putative chromosomal mosaicism present in a proportion of tested embryos. Chromosome mosaicism became more widely reported following the use of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) as a tool for performing PGT-A. This was due to the higher dynamic range of the NGS profiles that made mosaicism in the trophectoderm biopsy more visible. Around this same time the first study was published that followed the transfer of 18 mosaic embryos, resulting in the birth of six healthy babies (Greco et al 2015). Since then, several publications have described the results of mosaic embryo transfers, including the work by Viotti et al 2021 which summarised the results of transferring 1000 mosaic embryos. These studies have the common theme that a mosaic embryo result does not clearly predict a negative pregnancy outcome, unlike a uniform aneuploid result. However, it may predict a reduced chance of pregnancy, and an increased chance of miscarriage, depending on the type of mosaicism. Reassuringly, a mosaic result in an embryo also does not seem to indicate a higher chance of having a baby with an abnormality than euploid embryos. Chromosomally mosaic embryos should not be discarded and should be considered for use with appropriate counselling of the patients.https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/10.1142/S2661318222740322
spellingShingle Sharyn E. STOCK-MYER
Mosaicism in Human Embryos: What Do We Know?
Fertility & Reproduction
title Mosaicism in Human Embryos: What Do We Know?
title_full Mosaicism in Human Embryos: What Do We Know?
title_fullStr Mosaicism in Human Embryos: What Do We Know?
title_full_unstemmed Mosaicism in Human Embryos: What Do We Know?
title_short Mosaicism in Human Embryos: What Do We Know?
title_sort mosaicism in human embryos what do we know
url https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/10.1142/S2661318222740322
work_keys_str_mv AT sharynestockmyer mosaicisminhumanembryoswhatdoweknow