Poor Eggs Cause Of Unexplained Infertility

For about 10 per cent of infertile couples we cannot determine what the reason for their infertility is. The diagnostic label we use for them is unexplained infertility, which just means that we cannot provide an explanation as to why they are infertile.
For many of these couples , we have now found that the reason for their infertility is poor quality eggs. This can often be a difficult diagnosis to make; and it is one which is often overlooked by many gynecologists , especially when the woman is young and has regular cycles.

What is oopause

Some women with poor quality eggs have poor eggs because they have impaired ovarian reserve. Every woman is born with all the eggs she is ever going to have in her life; and as she gets older, she keeps on depleting her ovarian reserve until she becomes menopausal. However , for at least 10 years before reaching the menopause , her egg quality declines, so that she has enough eggs to produce enough hormones to get regular menstrual cycles, but not enough to make a baby. This is called the oopause.
Since her cycles are regular , this lulls her – and her gynecologist – into a false sense of security. The good news is that there are accurate tests to check ovarian reserve. These include a high-resolution vaginal ultrasound scan to check the antral follicle count; and a blood test to check the levels of AMH , or anti-Mullerian hormone.
A low antral follicle count and a low AMH level both suggest poor ovarian reserve. In these cases the problem is that we have to technology to make the diagnosis but the diagnosis is not made properly because of a lack of awareness.
There is another group of women, who have apparently normal ovarian reserve, but poor quality eggs. The group is much more frustrating to deal with. It is only when IVF or ICSI is done for these women that we find out that they have an egg problem. Here is the explanation.
Some of these women will grow eggs poorly in response to superovulation. Such a poor ovarian response is a marker for poor ovarian reserve. Unfortunately, they have a normal antral follicle count and normal AMH levels, which means this diagnosis is made only after the IVF superovulation has started.
The third group is perhaps the most difficult. These are women who grow a sufficient quantity of follicles in response to superovulation ; and have high estradiol levels as well. Egg collection is usually uneventful ; and the doctor often retrieves  eight to 16 eggs for them.
If IVF is done, when the fertilization check is performed the following day, much to the embryologist’s surprise and the patient’s dismay , it is found that the fertilization is very poor even though the sperm are fine and actively motile. If ICSI is being done, the embryologist often finds that the eggs are morphologically normal; or are very fragile.
For example, these eggs have granular cytoplasm; or vacuoles in their cytoplasm ; or dark areas within the cytoplasm. ( We call this the “fragile egg syndrome”.) Since normal eggs are simple spherical formless blobs, these subtle cytoplasmic abnormalities are often missed or overlooked. The embryologist may also noticed that the eggs are fragile, and the cell membrane offers little resistance to the injection pipette. Many of these eggs may die during the ICSI process.

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