Inclusion of pre-implantation genetic testing increases birth rate in IVF

Vijayawada: IVF/ICSI is the commonly used ART technique with a success rate of 40 to 50 percent, and in Vijayawada out of 100 IVF cycles 56 percent of women conceived successfully, said Dr Sree Lakshmi, Fertility Consultant, Nova Fertility centre, Vijayawada.

Addressing the media on Thursday, Dr Lakshmi said understanding the possible causes of implantation failure will help in planning the treatment and allows for better chances of success. 

"Traditionally, visual appearance of embryos has been the principal modality of choosing optimal embryos for embryo transfer in IVF. 

The incredible advances like PGS, PGD involve IVF/ICSI, Day 5 embryo biopsy for DNA sampling, genetic testing by next generation sequencing technique, embryo freezing and uterine transfer of genetically normal embryos. 

Euploid embryos are known to have high probability of implantation of 50 to 60 percent and a low probability of miscarriage which is less that 6 percent, giving highest chance of live birth after IVF," said the doctor.

Dr Lakshmi further said that pre-implantation genetic screening involves checking numerical abnormalities in chromosomes much earlier so as to avoid conception of potentially debilitating genetic diseases. 

All infertile couples are at risk for having abnormal embryos. The risk increases significantly as the woman gets older. 

An abnormal embryo almost always fails to implant, or even if it does, the pregnancy ends in a biochemical pregnancy, miscarriage, and foetal death later in pregnancy, stillbirth or a baby with abnormalities, she added.