New In VItro Method Reduces Multiple Births
Posted on: Thursday, 21 February 2008, 12:10 CST
In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) has been a leading method of battling infertility in women, but it comes with a risk of multiple births which can be dangerous for the children as well as the expecting mother.
Because more than one embryo is placed in the womb, multiple births can occur with IVF. The HFEA, the British Fertility Society and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists have been searching for a safe way to bring the rate of multiple births down.
Researchers in London recently studied hundreds of patients Assisted Conception Unit at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital and found that multiple births could be avoided by using a slightly more mature embryo.
Not only were the rates of multiple births noticeably lower, pregnancy rates increased, according to their research, published in the journal BJOG.
Two groups of women were studied. The first group consisted of those who had up to three embryos implanted two to three days after insemination. They witnessed a 32 percent pregnancy rate and an overall pregnancy rate of 27 percent. About 13 percent of these involved the transfer of just one embryo.
The second group consisted of younger women who were suspected of being more at risk of having multiple pregnancies. In this group, women had the option of receiving the mature embryo, called a blastocyst, instead.
Twenty Percent of the women in the second group received blastocysts, the majority of which were single transfers. The group’s pregnancy rate was 32 percent – the same as in the previous group, but multiple pregnancies dropped to 17 percent – almost a 50 percent drop from the initial study.
"It is a myth that single embryo transfer lowers the success rate of pregnancy," said Dr Yakoub Khalaf, who led the study.
"If the right patients are selected for blastocyst transfer, success rates can be maintained and multiple pregnancy can be significantly reduced."
The HFEA reported that almost a quarter of fertility clinics are now regularly providing the option of blastocyst transfers.
Dr Mark Hamilton, chairman of the British Fertility Society welcomed the findings, but he also recommended that couples have access to the three cycles of IVF treatment that NICE guidelines recommend. This could effectively reduce the number of couples who ask for multiple embryo transfers because of the high-priced IVH process.
"By reducing the number of multiple births, the money you would save on premature baby care would easily be enough to fund those extra cycles," he said.
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Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
Source: redOrbit staff
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