Objective: To compare the diagnostic efficiency between blastomere preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) and polar body PGD for chromosomal translocation carriers.
Methods: Group A had 8 cycles using whole painting probes for the first polar body diagnosis, while group B had 29 cycles using two subtelomeric probes and one centromeric probe for the blastomere diagnosis.
Results: The fertilization rate of group A was significantly lower than group B [66.1% (72/109) vs 85.2% (304/357), P < 0.05]. There was no significant difference in the successful biopsy rate between two groups. However, group A had a significantly higher loss rate during fixation and higher no signal rate after fluorescence in situ hybridization [FISH, 9.6% (12/104) vs 1.6% (4/252), 11.2% (10/89) vs 3.0% (7/233)]. Totally, the diagnostic efficiency in group A (72.5%, 79/109) was significantly lower than that in group B (89.8%, 230/256, P < 0.05). Although both the clinical pregnancy rate (3/7) and implantation rate (22.2%, 4/18) of group A were higher, the differences were not statistically significant (P > 0.05).
Conclusion: Both methods can be used efficiently in the PGD for chromosomal translocation carriers. Blastomere PGD has a higher diagnostic rate.