Objective: To compare, in a strict, randomized way, the efficiency of two ready-to-use systems for hyaluronic acid (HA)-intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI): an HA culture dish (PICSI Sperm Selection Device) and a viscous medium containing HA (Sperm Slow).
Design: Prospective, randomized study.
Setting: Medical center.
Patient(s): Fifty subjects per treatment group (100 total).
Intervention(s): One hundred ICSI treatments were randomly carried out with PICSI or with Sperm Slow for sperm selection. Randomization was conducted with sealed envelopes. Intracytoplasmic sperm injection was performed by a single embryologist with 5 years' experience in HA-ICSI.
Primary outcome measure: good-quality embryo rate.
Secondary outcome measures: oocyte fertilization, pregnancy and implantation rate, and the duration of the ICSI procedure.
Result(s): The good-quality embryo rate was comparable between the two groups (58.5% with PICSI vs. 56% with Sperm Slow). Overall there were no statistically significant differences in secondary outcome measures except ICSI procedure duration, which was 3 minutes longer in the PICSI group.
Conclusion(s): Both PICSI and Sperm Slow allow comparable clinical efficiency in selecting HA-bound spermatozoa.
Clinical trial registration number: ISRCTN72668039.
Copyright © 2012 American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.