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Abstract Study question How does female age affect ratio of patients with at least one euploid embryo (≥1EE) and at least one mosaic embryo without any euploid ones(≥1ME)? Summary answer Percentage of patients receiving mosaic embryo transfers increases with female age. What is known already Introduction of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) to the area of Preimplantation Genetic Testing for Aneuploidy (PGT-A) has enabled detection of mosaicism in human embryos. Studies reporting the birth of healthy babies after the transfer of embryos with a chromosomal mosaic result on PGT-A have been published (Greco et al., 2015; Kahraman et al., 2020; Viotti et al., 2021 and 2023). Data suggested lower implantation rates and higher miscarriage rates when mosaics were compared with euploid embryo transfers. The percentage of mosaic embryos in overall tested embryos decreases with increased maternal age, similar to euploid embryos’ decline (Sanders et al., 2023). Study design, size, duration This retrospective study includes 7287 cycles with PGT-A performed between January 2017 and December 2023. Number of biopsied blastocysts was 21,277 and all were tested with NGS. All PGT-A testing was conducted on Ion Torrent S5 (Thermo Fisher Scientific) according to the manufacturer guidelines. The mosaic embryo reporting thresholds were determined as 20 to 80%. Participants/materials, setting, methods Euploidy ratio (ER) was defined as (euploid embryos (n)/ all tested embryos(n)). Mosaicism ratio (MR) was defined as (mosaic embryos (n)/all tested embryos(n)). Alternative mosaicism ratio (AMR) was defined as the number of mosaic embryos divided by the sum of euploid embryos and mosaic embryos. In other words, AMR can be defined as the number of mosaic embryos divided by non-aneuploid embryos. Female ages were divided into five categories: FAG1:35, FAG2:35-37, FAG3:38-40, FAG4:41-42, FAG5:42. Main results and the role of chance The number of cycles, total number and average biopsied embryos with standard deviations were highest in FA1 and declined with AFA: FAG1:2537, 9298, 3.7±2.2; FAG2:1348, 4140, 3.1±1.7; FAG3:1701, 4298, 2.5±1.6; FAG4: 958,2116, 2.2±1.5; FAG5:738, 2407, 1.9±1.2. ER and MR were observed to decrease with AFA: FAG1:%48.4, %15.2; FAG2:%39.0, %12.7; FAG3:%26.5, %10.5; FAG4:%14.9, %6.0; FAG5:%5.0, %2.6. This decrease was statistically significant (p 0.0001, Chi-Square Test). However, when AMR was calculated among age groups, AMR was increasing with AFA: FAG1:%23.9; FAG2:%24.6; FAG3:%28.5;FAG4:%28.7; FAG5:%34.5 and this was also statistically significant (p = 0.0002, Chi-Square Test). Correlation of MR and AMR with female age groups were tested with Pearson correlation coefficient and MR was found to be negatively correlated with AFA whereas AMR was positively correlated (r=-0.19, p 0.0001; r = 0.07, p 0.0001, respectively). The ratio of patients with ≥1EE and ≥1ME was found to be decreasing with AFA when compared to overall tested cycles: FAG1: %83%, %7; FAG2: %69, %9; FAG3: %47, %11; FAG4: %28, %9; FAG5: %9, %4. However, the ratio of ≥ 1ME in cycles with transferrable embryos significantly increased with AFA consisting of more than one fourth of embryo transfer cycles above 38 years of age: FAG1: %7; FAG2: %12; FAG3: %19; FAG4: %24; FAG5: 31%. Limitations, reasons for caution These are the results of a single ART and Reproductive Genetics Center with its strictly defined standard operating procedures for PGT-A testing and ovarian stimulation protocols. Although not expected, different PGT-A testing methodologies or stimulation protocols may influence the above-mentioned outcomes. Wider implications of the findings The alternative mosaicism ratio defined here is generally overlooked but impacts the treatment strategies of ART patients, specifically for the advanced maternal age groups. Trial registration number not applicable
Çetinkaya et al. (Mon,) studied this question.