Quality of embryos key to IVF success

	Tweet

For women having fertility treatment, the quality, not the quantity of embryos is the key to a successful pregnancy, Finnish researchers said on Thursday.

As women age, their fertility declines so clinics often transfer more than one embryo during in vitro fertilisation (IVF) to increase the chances of success.

But that also raises the odds of multiple births, which can be dangerous for mothers and babies. 

Scientists at the University of Oulu in Finland have shown that a single, good quality embryo is as likely to result in a pregnancy in women aged 36-39 as transferring two embryos and it is safer because it results in fewer multiple births.

“It is more a question of quality than quantity,” Dr. Hannu Martikainen, who headed the research team, said in an interview. “This is the first time this has been shown in this age group of women,” he added.

Martikainen said his results also suggest that the quality of the embryo may be more important in determining IVF outcome than the woman’s age.

“In the age group 36-39, we nowadays use single embryo transfer in about 40 percent of cases. As a result of this, a multiple pregnancy rate of less than 10 percent has been achieved,” he said.

SUCCESS RATE

The researchers analysed the success rate of more than 1,224 cycles of fertility treatments in women aged 36-39 using fresh embryos and 828 in which the embryo had been frozen. A third of the women became pregnant after a single quality embryo transfer, which is similar to the rate in younger women.

The success rate among the older women was 26 percent, which was only slightly less than the results seen in an earlier study of women under 36.

The researchers, who reported the results in the journal Human Reproduction, said success rates using one quality, fresh embryo was similar to women who had two embryos placed in the womb.

But the multiple birth rate was less than 2 percent in the single embryo group compared with nearly 17 percent the other group.

“This tells us that as well as elective single embryo transfer having the potential to be as successful in women up to 40 as it is in younger women, it also reduces the risk of multiple births compared with double embryo transfer,” Martikainen added.

The researchers are planning further studies to see whether transferring a single quality embryo will produce the same results in women over 40. 

RELATED STORIES:
Pill Among Least Effective Birth Control Methods   70 percent of women use contraceptives during their first sexual encounter   Long-term contraception more effective than pills   Gay couples and women over 40 to get free IVF treatment on NHS   Health secretary urges contraception compromise   Contraceptive ring, patch carry blood clot risks   Reminder Stamp Boosts HPV Vaccination   Study adds to evidence on clot risks of non-oral contraceptives   HPV vaccine completion rate among girls is poor, getting worse   Some ob-gyns cite religious conflicts over care   After IVF, some couples get pregnant without help   Web Tool Offers Map to Menopause   Early Menopause Could Also Mean Early Death   Does soy help cool hot flashes after all?   Caffeine not tied to worsening urinary incontinence

Comments

[ + Post Your Own ]

Now you're in the public comment zone. What follows is not Armenian Medical Network's stuff; it comes from other people and we don't vouch for it. A reminder: By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

There are no comments for this entry yet. [ + Comment here + ]