We evaluated the rate of blastocyst development in day 3 embryos with appropriate cellular division and investigated whether maternal age modified the effect of embryo fragmentation on blastulation. Our data showed a significant negative correlation between the degree of embryo fragmentation and rate of blastocyst development, but age did not exert an effect on the degree of fragmentation in embryos with appropriate cleaving status, nor did it modify the significant effect embryo fragmentation had on blastocyst formation.
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