Intracytoplasmic sperm injection after total conventional in-vitro fertilization failure

This study assessed the value of delayed intracytoplasmic sperm injection after failure of initial in-vitro fertilization in patients with normal seminology. A case series analysis was conducted on 82 couples who underwent delayed intracytoplasmic sperm injection after failure of initial in-vitro fertilization at Fakeeh Hospital, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia between January 1995 and January 2001. Seventy-eight couples had 616 unfertilized metaphase II mature oocytes after initial in-vitro fertilization. Second day "rescue" reinsemination by intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) resulted in 174 embryos that were suitable for transfer. This resulted in 4 clinical pregnancies (5.1% per started rescue ICSI cycle). The limited success rate in this study provides confirmatory data that rescue ICSI is not an efficient adjuvant laboratory procedure.