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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Cell Dev. Biol.
Sec. Embryonic Development
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fcell.2024.1474242
This article is part of the Research Topic Synthetic Embryology: Current Models and Future Applications View all 3 articles

IVF cycle safety when a positive passive air sampling occurs under laminar flow hood in absence of a detectable contamination in the embryo culture

Provisionally accepted
Claudia Omes Claudia Omes 1*Roberto Bassani Roberto Bassani 1Patrizia Cambieri Patrizia Cambieri 2Fausto Baldanti Fausto Baldanti 3Rossella Elena Nappi Rossella Elena Nappi 3
  • 1 Center for Reproductive Medicine - Obstetrics and Gynecology Unit 2, Woman and Child Health Department, San Matteo Hospital Foundation (IRCCS), Pavia, Italy
  • 2 Microbiology and Virology Unit, San Matteo Hospital Foundation (IRCCS), Pavia, Italy
  • 3 Department of Clinical, Surgical, Diagnostic and Pediatric Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Lombardy, Italy

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Microbiological contamination in the embryo culture media might affect embryo early development and clinical outcomes during IVF procedures. Infections in the genital tract represent the most common causes of culture contamination, but also environmental air quality might have a detrimental effect on reproductive outcomes of infertile couples undergoing IVF procedures. Monitoring microbiological contamination in an embryology laboratory is mandatory and daily tests are performed under laminar vertical flow hood. In this study, we investigated the IVF outcome of procedures carried out during five years of laboratory activity when a positive passive air sampling occurs under laminar flow hood in the absence of clear contamination in the embryo culture. We performed 570 air samplings, and we isolated at least one CFU of microorganisms in the TSA settle plate in 13 cases (2.28%). No infections were suspected in the culture media given the absence of detectable microorganisms under the microscope or a turbidity/color change of culture media visible to the naked eye (0% contamination rate). There were no statistically significant differences in biochemical pregnancy, live birth rate, and abortion between the "contaminated" Group P and the "negative" Group N. Surprisingly, we found a better outcome in terms of clinical pregnancy rate in Group P as compared to Group N, a finding likely due to the accidental lower age of Group P (p= 0.0133). Data showed that, in the absence of a detectable contamination in the embryo culture media, IVF cycles are safe when an air positive sample occurs in Grade A environment.

    Keywords: air quality1, embryo culture2, clinical outcome3, IVF procedures4, microbiological contamination5

    Received: 02 Aug 2024; Accepted: 19 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Omes, Bassani, Cambieri, Baldanti and Nappi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Claudia Omes, Center for Reproductive Medicine - Obstetrics and Gynecology Unit 2, Woman and Child Health Department, San Matteo Hospital Foundation (IRCCS), Pavia, Italy

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