Several studies have shown inconsistent associations between anxiety during pregnancy and adverse pregnancy outcome. This inconsistency may be due to lack of controlling for the timing and type of maternal anxiety. We aimed to isolate a specific type of anxiety - maternal anxiety propensity, which is not directly related to pregnancy, and evaluate its association with adverse pregnancy outcome. We conducted a prospective observational study of 512 pregnant women, followed to delivery. The trait anxiety scale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventories was used in order to detect a propensity towards anxiety. The association between anxiety propensity (defined as trait-anxiety subscale score above 38) and adverse pregnancy outcome was evaluated. Primary outcome was a composite outcome including preterm birth prior to 37 gestational weeks, hypertensive disorders in pregnancy, small for gestational age newborn and gestational diabetes mellitus. Secondary outcomes were each one of the above mentioned gestational complications. There were no significant between-group differences in adverse pregnancy outcomes, including the rate of preterm birth, hypertensive disorders, small for gestational age, gestational diabetes or a composite outcome of them all. Anxiety propensity is not associated with adverse pregnancy outcome.

This study evaluated the clinical outcomes associated with quantitative phase microscopy (QPM), an advanced 3D morphological sperm analysis technique using a virtual, stained model developed in our facility that indicates whether the inspected sperm should be selected for intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). We prospectively compared the clinical outcomes of three groups of cycles: (1) one with the QPM assessment, (2) one with conventional ICSI, without using QPM in the same patient, and (3) one with conventional ICSI cycles of an historical cohort of patients who did not undergo QPM. The outcomes of cycles using QPM vs. intracytoplasmic morphologically selected sperm injection (IMSI) cycles were also compared. A total of 1243 cycles were included. Pregnancy and delivery rates were higher among the QPM group compared to the standard ICSI group (56.2% vs. 18.1%, p = 0.04 and 50% vs. 9%, respectively, p = 0.02). Pregnancy and delivery rates were also higher among the QPM group compared to the IMSI group (56.2% vs. 16.6%, p = 0.01 and 50% vs. 16.6%, respectively, p = 0.03). No pregnancy complications were recorded in the QPM group. We conclude that QPM is a safe, non-invasive sperm selection technique for ICSI, with the potential to improve clinical pregnancy and delivery rates for couples with male infertility.