Comparison of Embryo Development and Pregnancy Rates in Continuous Single and Sequential Media Cultures of Sibling Embryos

Embryo development and pregnancy rates for In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) in continuous single medium culture or sequential media culture of sibling embryos were evaluated. Patients who underwent retrieval of ≥8 oocytes from June 2013 to March 2014 were enrolled. All embryos were cultured for at least 5 days and the formation rate and quality of embryos were compared between the groups. No significant differences were observed between the 2 culture media systems regarding the formation rate and quality of early cleavage-stage embryos, although blastulation rate and quality were better with single medium. Clinical pregnancy rate and ongoing pregnancy rate per blastocyst transfer did not differ between the groups. These results suggested that a single continuous medium was as good as or better than sequential media to achieve pregnancy in IVF and embryo transfer.