Fertilization and early embryology: Morphometric characterization of normal and abnormal human zygotes

Human zygotes (n = 278) from 96 in-vitro fertilization gonadotrophin-stimulated cycles were photographed in their pronuclear stage (16-18 h post-insemination). Normal morphological fertilization (two pronuclei) was observed in 215 zygotes, 17 showed only one pronucleus, 40 showed three pronuclei and six showed four. Area, perimeter and maximum and minimum diameters of each zygote and pronucleus were measured using an IBAS 2000 (Kontron) image analyser. When the four groups were compared, whole zygotes did not show any morphometric difference. However, pronuclei from these groups showed that a high number of pronuclei was directly related to small pronuclei. Differences in pronuclear size an…