No advantage of laser-assisted over conventional intracytoplasmic sperm injection: a randomized controlled trial NCT00114725

摘要

BackgroundIntracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is a component of infertility treatment often employed when conventional in vitro fertilization is unlikely to be successful. Despite good clinical results with ICSI, the procedure is typically associated with degeneration of a significant percentage (approximately 10%) of the treated oocytes. The cause of this degeneration remains unclear. Speculation that damage caused by oocyte compression during the injection procedure may be responsible has led to the development of a novel technique known as laser-assisted ICSI. This procedure involves drilling a small hole through the zona pellucida with a laser prior to sperm injection. Preliminary studies have suggested that laser-assisted ICSI may dramatically reduce oocyte degeneration rates. The objective of this study was to examine whether the reported benefits of laser-assisted ICSI could be verified on a larger, less-selected group of patients.