Routine SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid or antigen testing every other day during IVF treatment cycles
Stratify patients by infection timing, fever presence, and partner infection status
Management
Consider postponing fresh embryo transfer cycles if COVID-19 infection occurred within 28–84 days prior to oocyte retrieval with fever ≥ 38.5°C
Evaluate risks carefully in couples with dual-partner infection before proceeding with IVF
Follow ASRM and related societies' recommendations to suspend new treatment cycles in infected patients unless delay poses health risks
Monitoring & Follow-up
Monitor pregnancy outcomes including live birth rates and miscarriage rates in COVID-19 infected patients undergoing fET
Use logistic regression analyses to assess impact of infection timing and severity on outcomes
Risks
Increased mid-to-late miscarriage rates in COVID-19 infected patients (adjusted OR 7.929)
Potential adverse impact on embryo implantation and pregnancy success related to infection timing and fever
Uncertainty remains; larger multicenter studies needed to validate findings
Patient & Prescribing Data
Women undergoing fresh embryo transfer cycles with or without COVID-19 infection
COVID-19 infection, especially with fever and dual-partner infection, is linked to reduced live birth rates; treatment timing and infection status should inform clinical decisions
Clinical Best Practices
Perform thorough COVID-19 screening and documentation prior to and during IVF cycles
Delay fresh embryo transfer if recent COVID-19 infection with fever occurred within critical window (28–84 days before oocyte retrieval)
Consider partner infection status as a factor in IVF cycle planning
Balance risks and benefits of proceeding with IVF in infected patients according to current evidence and guidelines
Employ propensity score matching or similar methods to control confounding factors in outcome assessments
Across six experiments—including a blinded, real-world ER evaluation—an OpenAI large language model outperformed physician baselines on multiple clinical reasoning tasks, though not on key safety endpoints such as cannot-miss diagnoses
