Influence of Trophectoderm Biopsy Prior to Frozen Blastocyst Transfer on Obstetrical Outcomes

The purpose of this study is to determine if trophectoderm biopsy prior to autologous frozen blastocyst transfer in programmed cycles is associated with gestational age at delivery, birth weight, or cesarean rate in viable singleton gestations. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients at a university-affiliated center that had viable singleton gestations after autologous frozen blastocyst transfer in programmed cycles. Obstetrical outcomes of 67 pregnancies after blastocyst trophectoderm biopsy for preimplantation genetic testing were compared to 78 pregnancies from unbiopsied blastocysts. There were no significant differences between the two cohorts in terms of maternal age, BMI, or ethnicity. There were no differences in the preimplantation genetic testing cohort compared to the reference cohort for median gestational age at delivery (39.4 vs 39.4 weeks, p = 0.80), median birth weight (3420 vs 3430 g, p = 0.97), cesarean rate (51% vs 44%, p = 0.41), preterm delivery rate (12% vs 8%, p = 0.41), rate of low birth weight (12% vs 9%, p = 0.59), or rate of birth weight over 4000 g (13% vs 8%, p = 0.29). There were no differences in the primary outcomes with subgroup analysis based on fetal sex, single embryo transfer, gravidity, history of prior term birth, and maternal age < or ≥ 35 years. Trophectoderm biopsy prior to frozen blastocyst transfer in programmed cycles was not associated with adverse obstetrical outcomes related to gestational age at delivery, birth weight, or cesarean rate.