GnRH agonist triggering affects the kinetics of embryo development: a comparative study

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the effects of an ovulation triggering agent, human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), versus a gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRHa) on early embryo development in vitro using a time-lapse system. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of a prospectively collected database. A total of 739 embryos from 152 infertile couples undergoing intracytoplasmic sperm injection cycles. INTERVENTIONS: Embryo culture in a time-lapse incubator (EmbryoScope, Vitrolife, Göteborg, Sweden). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Embryo morphokinetic parameters. RESULTS: In the 152 women, 252 embryos were derived from GnRHa-triggered cycles compared with 487 embryos derived from hCG-triggered cycles. Time-lapse analysis revealed that embryos from cycles triggered by a GnRHa cleaved faster than embryos derived from hCG-triggered cycles. CONCLUSION: Triggering with a GnRHa in in vitro fertilization cycles affects embryo kinetics.