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YF - April 29th, 2006 10:24 PM

Hi Dr. Smith:
I had two failed fresh cycle, and one failed FET, the reason was believed to be poor embryo quality.

On our third attempt, the doctor suggests using co-culturing the embryo with tissues taken from my uterus lining. This has shown to improve embryo viability and increase pregnancy rate to 40%.

What would be your thought on this?

yk - May 1st, 2006 7:44 PM

Hi Dr. Smith:
I read your previous answer to another similar question on the effectiveness of endometrial co-culture. But research studies do seem to offer a better prognosis for those who use co-culture.

UCSF reported an increase from 13% success rate to 40% for those who have poor embryo quality.

I consulted with another RE who does not believe in co-culture as well. I am so confused. Can you shed some light in this? Thank you.

Dr Smith - May 2nd, 2006 10:30 AM

I am not aware of any prospective, randomized clinical trials demonstrating an increase in implantation rate, pregnancy, or term pregnancy following endometrial cell co-culture when compared to the FDA-approved, sequential media embryo culture systems currently in use in the majority of US labs. The studies that demonstrated an improvement, compared co-culture to out dated, sub-optimal media formulations. Those studies are rather old and should be interpreted with caution. There have been many advances/improvements in embryo culture medium in the past few years. In my opinion, co-culture is a thing of the past.

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