Evaluation of the Tru-Trax cervical mucus penetration test in predicting fertilization and pregnancy rates in in-vitro fertilization

• Published in: Human reproduction (Oxford) 1995-06, Vol.10 (6), p.1481-1485
• Main Authors: SHARARA, F. I, ILLIONS, E. H, CODDINGTON, C. C, SCOTT, R. T
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Birth control; Cattle; Cervix Mucus; Evaluation Studies as Topic; Female; Fertilization; Fertilization in Vitro; Gynecology. Andrology. Obstetrics; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Rate; Prospective Studies; Reference Values; Sensitivity and Specificity; Sperm-Ovum Interactions; Statistics as Topic; Sterility. Assisted procreation; Treatment Outcome
• ISSN: 0268-1161; 1460-2350

To evaluate the role of the Tru-Trax cervical mucus penetration testing of prognosis of patient performance in in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and to examine its use as a possible screening test prior to IVF, 133 couples presenting with infertility prospectively underwent in-vitro cervical mucus penetration testing. Of these, 66 couples subsequently underwent IVF. The penetration distance of the vanguard spermatozoa in both human and bovine mucus was compared to the fertilization and pregnancy rates during IVF. The fertilization rates in couples with normal human mucus penetration (n = 42, 80.6%) were higher than those with abnormal scores (n = 24, 49.6%; P < 0.001). Similarly, the fertilization rates in those couples with normal bovine mucus penetration (n = 50, 77.5%) were higher than those with abnormal results (n = 16, 40.0%; P < 0.001). Fertilization rates and penetration scores were highly correlated for both human (r = 0.66; P < 0.0001) and bovine (r = 0.66; P < 0.0001) mucus. However, the predictive value of an abnormal result for failed fertilization was poor for both human and bovine penetration, since 83.33 and 81.25% fertilized respectively. Pregnancy rates did not differ among couples with normal and abnormal penetrations. In conclusion, in-vitro cervical mucus penetration testing was highly correlated with fertilization rates in IVF. However, the poor predictive value of an abnormal result may limit the value of this test for generalized pretreatment screening.