Live birth derived from a markedly large polar body oocyte: a rare case report

• Published in: Zygote (Cambridge) 2024-04, Vol.32 (2), p.170-174
• Main Authors: Liu, Yongxiang, Peng, Xinliang, Liu, Caifeng, Zhang, Shuting, Weng, Zhiwei, Yu, Li, Zhou, Shaohu, Huang, Xuekun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abnormalities; Adult; Birth; Births; Blastocyst - cytology; Blastocyst - physiology; Body size; Case reports; Cesarean section; Cryopreservation; Embryo transfer; Embryo Transfer - methods; Embryos; Extreme values; Female; Gametocytes; Genetic diversity; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Infertility; Live Birth; Male; Morphology; Oocytes; Oocytes - cytology; Oocytes - physiology; Polar Bodies; Pregnancy; Reproductive health; Reproductive technologies; Sperm; Sperm Injections, Intracytoplasmic - methods
• ISSN: 0967-1994; 1469-8730; 1469-8730
• DOI: 10.1017/S0967199424000054

Oocytes with excessively large first polar bodies (PB1) often occur in assisted reproductive procedures. Many times these oocytes are discarded without insemination and, as a result, the application of this portion of oocytes has scarcely been reported to date. Few studies have examined large PB1 oocytes in infertile women and have virtually entirely studied genetic variations for large PB1 oocyte abnormalities. Here, we describe an unusual case of a live birth from a remarkably large PB1 oocyte in a frozen embryo transfer (FET) cycle. This is the first instance of a successful live birth resulting from a PB1 oocyte with an extremely large polar body measuring 80 μM × 40 μM in size. The large PB1 oocyte was performed by an early rescue intracytoplasmic sperm injection (r-ICSI) and was formed into a blastocyst on day 5. Following FET, a healthy boy baby weighing 3100 g was finally delivered by caesarean section at 37 weeks and 5 days after conception. Additionally, there were no complications throughout the antenatal period or the perinatal phase of this following full-term delivery. In this study, it is revealed for the first time that a huge PB1 oocyte can be fertilized, resulting in the growth of a blastocyst, a subsequent pregnancy, and a live birth. This new information prompts us to reconsider the use of large PB1 oocytes. More insightful talks should be given attention to prevent the waste of embryos because not all oocytes with aberrant morphology are unavailable.