Clinical outcomes after the transfer of blastocysts characterized as mosaic by high resolution Next Generation Sequencing- further insights.
To determine the pregnancy outcome potential of euploid, mosaic and aneuploid embryos.
Retrospective study.
Reference genetics laboratories.
2654 PGT-A cycles with euploid characterized embryo transfers, 253 PGT-A cycles with transfer of embryos characterized as mosaic, and 10 PGT-A cycles with fully abnormal embryo transfers.
Blastocysts were assessed by trophectoderm (TE) biopsy followed by PGT-A via array CGH or NGS.
Implantation, miscarriage, ongoing implantation rates (OIR), and karyotype if available, were compared between different embryo groups, and between the two PGT-A techniques.
The Ongoing Pregnancy Rate (OPR)/transfer was significantly higher for NGS-classified euploid embryos (85%) than for aCGH ones (71%) (p < 0.001), but the OPR/cycle was similar (63% vs 59%). NGS-classified mosaic embryos resulted in 37% OPR/cycle (p < 0.001 compared to euploid). Mosaic aneuploid embryos with <40% abnormal cells in the TE sample had an OIR of 50% compared to 27% for mosaics with 40-80% abnormal cells in the TE, and 9% for complex mosaic embryos. All the karyotyped ongoing pregnancies (n = 29) were euploid. Transfers of embryos classified as aneuploid via aCGH (n = 10) led to one chromosomally abnormal pregnancy.
NGS-classified euploid embryos yielded higher OIRs but similar OPRs/cycle compared to aCGH. NGS-classified mosaic embryos had reduced potential to reach term, compared to euploid embryos. If they did reach term, those with karyotype results available were euploid. Embryos carrying uniform aneuploidies affecting entire chromosomes were mostly unable to implant after transfer, and the one that implanted ended up in a chromosomally abnormal live birth.
Munné S
,Spinella F
,Grifo J
,Zhang J
,Beltran MP
,Fragouli E
,Fiorentino F
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Extended in vitro culture of human embryos demonstrates the complex nature of diagnosing chromosomal mosaicism from a single trophectoderm biopsy.
What is the accuracy of preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidies (PGT-A) when considering human peri-implantation outcomes in vitro?
The probability of accurately diagnosing an embryo as abnormal was 100%, while the proportion of euploid embryos classified as clinically suitable was 61.9%, yet if structural and mosaic abnormalities were not considered accuracy increased to 100%, with a 0% false positive and false negative rate.
Embryo aneuploidy is associated with implantation failure and early pregnancy loss. However, a proportion of blastocysts are mosaic, containing chromosomally distinct cell populations. Diagnosing chromosomal mosaicism remains a significant challenge for PGT-A. Although mosaic embryos may lead to healthy live births, they are also associated with poorer clinical outcomes. Moreover, the direct effects of mosaicism on early pregnancy remain unknown. Recently, developed in vitro systems allow extended embryo culture for up to 14 days providing a unique opportunity for modelling chromosomal instability during human peri-implantation development.
A total of 80 embryos were cultured to either 8 (n = 7) or 12 days post-fertilisation (dpf; n = 73). Of these, 54 were PGT-A blastocysts, donated to research following an abnormal (n = 37) or mosaic (n = 17) diagnosis. The remaining 26 were supernumerary blastocysts, obtained from standard assisted reproductive technology (ART) cycles. These embryos underwent trophectoderm (TE) biopsy prior to extended culture.
We applied established culture protocols to generate embryo outgrowths. Outgrowth viability was assessed based on careful morphological evaluation. Nine outgrowths were further separated into two or more portions corresponding to inner cell mass (ICM) and TE-derived lineages. A total of 45 embryos were selected for next generation sequencing (NGS) at 8 or 12 dpf. We correlated TE biopsy profiles to both culture outcomes and the chromosomal status of the embryos during later development.
Of the 73 embryos cultured to 12 dpf, 51% remained viable, while 49% detached between 8 and 12 dpf. Viable, Day 12 outgrowths were predominately generated from euploid blastocysts and those diagnosed with trisomies, duplications or mosaic aberrations. Conversely, monosomies, deletions and more complex chromosomal constitutions significantly impaired in vitro development to 12 dpf (10% vs. 77%, P < 0.0001). When compared to the original biopsy, we determined 100% concordance for uniform numerical aneuploidies, both in whole outgrowths and in the ICM and TE-derived outgrowth portions. However, uniform structural variants were not always confirmed later in development. Moreover, a high proportion of embryos originally diagnosed as mosaic remained viable at 12 dpf (58%). Of these, 71% were euploid, with normal profiles observed in both ICM and TE-derived lineages. Based on our validation data, we determine a 0% false negative and 18.5% false positive error rate when diagnosing mosaicism. Overall, our findings demonstrate a diagnostic accuracy of 80% in the context of PGT-A. Nevertheless, if structural and mosaic abnormalities are not considered, accuracy increases to 100%, with a 0% false positive and false negative rate.
The inherent limitations of extended in vitro culture, particularly when modelling critical developmental milestones, warrant careful interpretation.
Our findings echo current prenatal testing data and support the high clinical predictive value of PGT-A for diagnosing uniform numerical aneuploidies, as well as euploid chromosomal constitutions. However, distinguishing technical bias from biological variability will remain a challenge, inherently limiting the accuracy of a single TE biopsy for diagnosing mosaicism.
This research is funded by the Ghent University Special Research Fund (BOF01D08114) awarded to M.P., the Research Foundation-Flanders (FWO.KAN.0005.01) research grant awarded to B.H. and De Snoo-van't Hoogerhuijs Stichting awarded to S.M.C.d.S.L. We thank Ferring Pharmaceuticals (Aalst, Belgium) for their unrestricted educational grant. The authors declare no competing interests.
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Popovic M
,Dhaenens L
,Taelman J
,Dheedene A
,Bialecka M
,De Sutter P
,Chuva de Sousa Lopes SM
,Menten B
,Heindryckx B
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