Purpose: To report the case of a patient undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) in which a non-pronuclear (0PN) oocyte resulted in a normal pregnancy.
Methods: A 36-year-old woman underwent an IVF-embryo transfer treatment cycle.
Results: Four oocytes were retrieved for insemination by IVF. Examination for fertilization revealed two polypronuclearpolygynic and two non-pronuclear oocytes. The non-pronuclear oocytes were observed further for development. One embryo developed from the non-pronuclear cohort and was transferred at the 8-cell stage on day 3. Subsequently, a pregnancy developed, and resulted in the delivery of a healthy term infant.
Conclusions: Non-pronuclear oocytes may represent a source of developmentally competent embryos, and further observation of this cohort should be considered, particularly in situations involving a low yield of oocytes at retrieval.