Embryo testing reduces IVF miscarriages

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – For women 35 years of age or
older who have had recurrent miscarriages, in vitro
fertilization followed by genetic testing of embryos before
they’re implanted reduces the risk of pregnancy loss, according
to a new study.

Most early pregnancy losses show chromosomal abnormalities,
so transfer of only embryos with normal chromosomes should
reduce the chances of miscarriage.

Dr. Santiago Munne from Reprogenetics, LLC, in Hoboken, New
Jersey, and associates studied the benefits of preimplantation
genetic diagnosis (PGD), as the strategy is called, in 58 women
who had had several previous miscarriages. Thirty-seven of the
women were 35 years or older.

The observed loss rate after PGD was 17 percent, the
investigators report in the medical journal Fertility and
Sterility, compared with an expected loss rate of 36 percent.

In the older age group, the loss rate was 12 percent,
compared with 44 percent expected, the researchers note. For
women younger than 35 years, PGD didn’t affect the miscarriage
rate significantly.

“Our findings indicate that PGD can be recommended to
recurrent miscarriage patients who are 35 years and older and
show no clear (cause) of recurrent miscarriage,” the authors
conclude.

The add that clinical trials are “desirable” to show that
“liveborn rates are increased, and to identify the subset of
patients most likely to benefit from PGD.”

SOURCE: Fertility and Sterility, August 2005.