Evaluating the heterogeneous effect of extended culture to blastocyst transfer on the implantation outcome via causal inference in fresh ICSI cycles.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

In IVF treatments, extended culture to single blastocyst transfer is the recommended protocol over cleavage-stage transfer. However, evidence-based criteria for assessing the heterogeneous implications on implantation outcomes are lacking. The purpose of this work is to estimate the causal effect of blastocyst transfer on implantation outcome.

Methods

We fit a causal forest model using a multicenter observational dataset that includes an exogenous source of variability in treatment assignment and has a strong claim for satisfying the assumptions needed for valid causal inference from observational data.

Results

We quantified the probability difference in embryo implantation if transferred as a blastocyst versus cleavage stage. Blastocyst transfer increased the

SUBMITTER: Kan-Tor Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10957840 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature