Clinical outcomes of MII oocytes with refractile bodies in patients undergoing ICSI and single frozen embryo transfer

Purpose: This study aimed to analyze whether the presence of refractile bodies (RFs) negatively affects fertilization, embryo development, and/or implantation rates following intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).

Methods: This retrospective embryo cohort study involved a total of 272 patients undergoing ICSI treatment of blastocyst cryopreservation.

Results: In the study, no significant differences were found regarding 2PN formation rates between RF(+) (76.5%) and RF(-) oocytes (77.2%). However, the blastocyst formation rate on Day 5 in RF(+) oocytes was 45.8%, which was significantly lower than that of 52.2% in RF(-) oocytes (aOR 0.74, 95% CI 0.59-0.93, P = .011). Implantation rates were also significantly lower in RF(+) oocytes (24.2%) as compared to RF(-) oocytes (42.2%) (aOR 0.46, 95% CI 0.26-0.78, P = .005). Furthermore, the implantation rate of RF(+) oocytes (28.6%), when high-quality blastocysts were transferred, was significantly lower than that of RF(-) oocytes (46.1%) (aOR 0.50, 95% CI 0.25-0.96, P = .043).

Conclusion: Our results suggest that oocytes with the presence of RFs have a lower potential for blastocyst development. Even when they develop into high-quality blastocysts, the chances of implantation are reduced.