Table 3.
The characteristics of AHpET practice
| Characteristics/ details | n | % |
|---|---|---|
| Indications for AHpET | ||
| Embryos from patients with a poor prognosis | 47 | 32.0 |
| Embryos with a thick zona pellucida | 51 | 34.7 |
| Slow frozen/thaw or vitrified/warm embryos | 45 | 30.6 |
| Only when patient requests | 2 | 1.4 |
| All embryos | 2 | 1.4 |
| Fresh or frozen/thaw embryos | ||
| Fresh embryos | 3 | 4.2 |
| Vitrified/warm embryo only | 20 | 28.2 |
| Slow freeze/ thaw embryo and/or vitrified/warm embryo | 6 | 8.5 |
| All embryos | 42 | 59.2 |
| Embryo stage for AHpET | ||
| Cleavage stage (day 2) | 6 | 5.6 |
| Cleavage stage (day 3) | 50 | 46.3 |
| Morula stage (day 4) | 6 | 5.6 |
| Blastocyst stage (days 5–7) | 46 | 42.6 |
| Technique for AHpET | ||
| Laser-assisted method | 68 | 95.8 |
| Chemical method | 1 | 1.4 |
| Mechanical method | 2 | 2.8 |
| Method for AHpET | ||
| ZP drilling | 28 | 39.4 |
| ZP thinning | 29 | 40.8 |
| Both | 14 | 19.7 |
| The opening size of drilling (13 skipped this question) | ||
| < 10 µm | 12 | 40 |
| 10–15 µm | 9 | 30 |
| 15–25 µm | 5 | 16.7 |
| > 25 µm | 4 | 13.3 |
| The extension of ZP thinning (5 skipped this question) | ||
| < Quarter of the circumference | 14 | 36.8 |
| Quarter of the circumference | 16 | 42.1 |
| Quarter to half the circumference | 8 | 21.1 |
| Half the circumference | 0 | 0 |
| > Half the circumference | 0 | 0 |
| Continuously culture embryo after AHpET (3 skipped this question) | ||
| Yes, culture to blastocyst stage | 4 | 5.7 |
| No, embryo(s) will be transferred very soon (within few hours) | 43 | 61.4 |
| Both, depends on embryo development or biopsy needs | 23 | 32.9 |
AHpET assisted hatching prior to embryo transfer, ZP zona pellucida