Alessio Paffoni

PURPOSE: A reduced fertilization rate is a frustrating condition for patients and embryologists. This study aimed develop a statistical metric, LOW FERTILIZATION, to determine whether a distinct pathological entity underlies reduced fertili…

PURPOSE: Environmental microbiological monitoring is mandatory in IVF laboratories; however, procedure-specific risk assessment across the entire medically assisted reproduction workflow remains limited. This multicenter study, named "SMILE…

BACKGROUND: In assisted reproductive technology (ART), the choice between intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and conventional in vitro insemination (IVF) remains a pivotal decision for couples with female or unexplained infertility. Th…

IMPORTANCE: Although multiple mechanisms have been proposed to explain the infertility related to endometriosis, there are no conclusive data on the association of endometriosis with endometrial receptivity. The oocyte donation model in ass…

PURPOSE: To evaluate whether elective single embryo transfer in patients with suboptimal response to ovarian stimulation is detrimental to pregnancy rates compared to double embryo transfer. METHODS: A case-control retrospective study was …

Advanced endometriosis is associated with a reduction of IVF success. Surgical damage to the ovarian reserve following the excision of endometriomas has been claimed as a critical factor in the explanation of this detrimental effect. Howeve…

Conventional IVF (c-IVF) is one of the most practiced assisted reproductive technology (ART) approaches used worldwide. However, in the last years, the number of c-IVF procedures has dropped dramatically in favor of intracytoplasmic sperm i…

The frozen embryo transfer (FET) technique has been progressively used more worldwide due to improved culture conditions, as well as enhanced survival rates after vitrification. However, little is known about the effect of the post-thaw bla…

INTRODUCTION: Recent data suggest a higher clinical pregnancy rate performing assisted hatching (AH) on previously cryopreserved embryos but fail to demonstrate significant effects on live birth rate. However, current evidence is based on s…

The present randomized controlled in vitro study was designed to evaluate the effects of the exposure of human cryopreserved oocytes to endometriotic fluid. Twenty-three women aged 36 (4) years donated a total of 147 vitrified supernumerary…

Available evidence on the impact of ovarian stimulation on the progression of endometriosis or its recurrence was systematically reviewed. Data from ovarian stimulation alone, or associated with intrauterine insemination (IUI) or IVF, were …

OBJECTIVE: The relation between endometriomas and damage to ovarian reserve remains controversial. In this study, we hypothesized that this damage may not be present at the time of endometrioma formation but may conversely gradually develop…

Cycles with progesterone elevation during controlled ovarian stimulation (COS) for IVF/ICSI are commonly managed with a "freeze-all" strategy, due to a well-recognized detrimental effect of high progesterone levels on endometrial receptivit…

The clinical management of women with deep peritoneal endometriosis remains controversial. The debate focuses mainly on the precise role of hormonal medical treatment and surgery and on the most suitable surgical technique to be used. In pa…

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the accuracy of antral follicular count (AFC) in predicting ovarian responsiveness in ovaries with endometriomas or with a past history of surgical excision of endometriomas. DESIGN: Retrospective review. SETTING: A…

PURPOSE: Aim of the present study was to compare two culture strategies used in our routine in vitro fertilization program. METHODS: This is a retrospective analysis. Two culture systems were used in parallel and analysed retrospectively: …

A comprehensive analysis of the vitamin D status of infertile women is the first step in understanding hypovitaminosis impact on reproductive potential. We sought to determine vitamin D profiles of women attending an infertility center and …

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether iron contained in ovarian endometriomas can diffuse through the cyst wall and negatively affect ovarian function. DESIGN: Prospective case series. SETTING: Infertility unit in an academic setting. POPULATIO…

BACKGROUND: Classical surgical management of endometriotic ovarian cysts using the laparoscopic stripping technique has been recently questioned because of the surgical-related injury to the ovarian reserve. Accordingly, available guideline…

PURPOSE: The present study aimed to gather information on the impact of Alpha/European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) consensus regarding oocytes with aggregates of smooth endoplasmic reticulum (SERa) on in vitro ferti…

Research on the effect of adenomyosis on the rate of success of IVF is controversial. Differences in study design, study power, criteria and instrument used to diagnose adenomyosis and choice of controls may explain these discrepancies. To …

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether accidental contamination of follicular fluid with endometrioma content during oocytes retrieval affects IVF outcome. STUDY DESIGN: We set up a retrospective review of women undergoing IVF in our infertility u…

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether the presence of endometriomas affects ovarian function. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: Infertility unit of an academic setting. PATIENT(S): Twenty-nine women undergoing an IVF cycle. INTERVENTI…

Several studies aimed to disentangle whether pregnancy influences the growth of uterine fibroids but results were inconsistent. In this study, we speculated that fibroid enlargement during pregnancy may not be linear and we hypothesized tha…

PURPOSE: To compare two embryo grouping strategies. METHODS: Retrospective time-course analysis in two different centres. Two culture protocols were used at the zygote stage: "Random Group" in which zygotes were randomly grouped and "Defin…