'There is only one thing that is truly important in an IVF laboratory: everything' Cairo Consensus Guidelines on IVF Culture Conditions

Abstract

This proceedings report presents the outcomes from an international expert meeting to establish consensus guidelines on IVF culture conditions. Topics reviewed and discussed were: embryo culture - basic principles and interactions; temperature in the IVF laboratory; humidity in culture; carbon dioxide control and medium pH; oxygen tension for embryo culture; workstations - design and engineering; incubators - maintaining the culture environment; micromanipulation - maintaining a steady physcochemical environment; handling practices; assessment practices; culture media - buffering and pH, general composition and protein supplementation, sequential or single-step media for human embryo culture; use and management - cold chain and storage; test equipment - calibration and certification; and laboratory equipment and real-time monitoring. More than 50 consensus guideline points were established under these general headings.

Keywords: Culture conditions; IVF; Incubators; Maintenance; Medium; Quality control.