Abstract

*Muhjah Falah Hassan and Hind Abdul-Kadim

ABSTRACT

Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), with a prevalence of 5% is one of the major causes of ovulatory dysfunction among reproductive age women. Folliculogenesis in the PCOS is often impaired, leading to suboptimal oocyte development, reduced oocyte competence for fertilization, normal embryonic development and achievement of a successful pregnancy. A combination of excess androgen and luteinizing hormone (LH) in PCOS patients might be responsible for follicular atresia and poor quality embryo. The quality of an embryo to a great extent depends on the quality of oocyte from which it was obtained. Morphological deviation of Oocyte as a result of hormonal imbalance can be a reflection of pathophysiological events in this syndrome. ICSI is considered as a treatment option for patients with PCOS after conventional treatments failure. Aim: The aim of this research is to study the possible association between polycystic ovary syndrome and certain morphological abnormalities of oocyte and whether this dysmorphism affect fertilization rate and subsequent embryonic development. Materials and Methods: One hundred three infertile couples were included in this study. They divided in to two groups. Group I: female partners with PCOS and group II: females without PCOS. Both were included in ICSI program. Microscopic evaluation of oocytes and embryos was done and the results were compared between them. Results: The study was showed that the percentage of oocytes with abnormal morphology was significantly more in PCOS women 17.5 % versus 9 % in non-PCOS, p-value=0.046, there was no significant statistical variation regarding both fertilization rate and cleavage rate (71.49 % in PCOS VS 73.38 % in non-PCOS, p-value=0.40 and 93.86 % in PCOS VS 95.77 % in non-PCOS group, p-value=0.59 respectively) .No significant statistical difference between two groups regarding the number of good quality embryos 6.08±4.39 in PCOS VS 4.65±3.43 in non-PCOS, p-value=0.07. Conclusion: Women who suffered from PCOS tend to produce larger number of oocytes with several significant dysmorphic features associated with post maturity after controlled ovarian hyper stimulation. These morphological abnormalities had no adverse effect on fertilization rate (FR), cleavage rate (CR) and embryo quality. PCOS women can produce good quality embryos despite higher percentage of poor quality oocytes.