The effect of Covid 19 infection in IVF/ICSI cycles

Abstract

The new coronavirus, first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, can infect humans and cause severe respiratory disease. Since its outbreak, this disease has led to widespread deaths in all age groups, especially pregnant women. There is concern that due to the presence of ACE2 in the ovaries, SARS-CoV-2 infection may impair ovarian function and thus egg quality because the SARS-CoV-2 virus uses the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptor in the renin-angiotensin system to Virus entry uses. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of COVID19 infection in response to ovulation stimulation cycles. Materials and Methods: In this prospective cohort study, all the couples who were referred for the process of ovulation stimulation in the period after the approval of the ethics committee and up to 4 months later, were included in the study and will be divided into 3 groups. The first group, if there is a definite history of contracting the disease of COVID19 along the three years before the visit, based on a positive PCR test, the second group of the COVID19 vaccine, which includes clients with no absolute history of contracting the disease and receiving at least 2 doses of vaccines approved by the Ministry of Health of Iran, the third group included the group without vaccination and disease in the last year. Clients in terms of the number of ovarian follicles by transvaginal ultrasound method, the number of oocytes obtained after a full treatment period, and also in terms of the ratio of the number of high-quality embryos to the number of two-pronuclei (seven or more blastomeres on day 3, blastomeres with equal size and maximum 10% fragmentation) occurrence or non-occurrence of pregnancy were followed and compared. Results: We evaluated 156 patients in three groups of 52 people. Mean ovarian follicles in the patients of the group infected with COVID-19, the vaccinated group, and the control group were 10.6±4.9, 11.5±4.9, and 12.1±2.9 respectively, and no statistically significant difference was observed between the three groups. Mean oocytes obtained in the patients of the group infected with COVID-19, the vaccinated group, and the control group were 7.5±6.1, 8.6±6.1, and 9.1±5.1, respectively, and no statistically significant difference was observed between the three groups. The clinical pregnancy rate in the patients of the group infected with COVID-19, the vaccinated group, and the control group were 19.2%, 21.2%, and 23.1%, respectively, and no statistically significant difference was observed between the three groups.