Limited oocyte availability should not dictate the use of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), according to Italian doctors, who say conventional IVF is reliable even when a single egg is retrieved.

Their retrospective study found a 69% normal fertilisation rate when single oocytes were inseminated with conventional IVF.

While lower than some industry benchmarks, the researchers said these rates exceeded the 60% minimum competency threshold set by the Vienna consensus for assisted reproductive technology (ART).

“Overall, our findings suggest reassessment of the routine adoption of ICSI in single oocyte retrieval cycles, particularly when partners display normal semen variables,” they wrote in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.