Thinking about getting pregnant through in vitro
fertilization (IVF)? Then the time couldn’t be better, as
In IVF treatment, a number of eggs harvested from the woman
are fertilized in the lab with the man's sperm. The fertilized eggs are allowed
to grow for about 5 days. Then, the ones that are deemed most viable are
selected for implanting into the woman's uterus.
IVF is both an expensive and emotional procedure with success
only in 18 to 45 percent of the cases, according to the Society for Assisted Reproductive
Technology.
The new method can predict with 70-percent accuracy whether a
current IVF procedure will result in pregnancy.
Dr. Mylene Yao, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Stanford
and lead author of the study along with her colleagues analyzed data from 665
IVF cycles performed at the university in 2005 to determine link between IFV
outcomes and 30 variables in patient characteristics, clinical diagnoses,
treatment protocol and embryo characteristics.
The researchers found that four of the 30 factors were critical
in predicting IVF pregnancy. The factors were as follows:1. the total number of embryos produced during the
procedure;2. the number of embryos that have reached the eight-cell
stage development;3. percentage of embryos that stopped dividing and would
die;4. the woman’s follicle-stimulating hormone level – an estimate
of ovarian function.
The study found that these four factors were better at
predicting pregnancy when combined.
“Using only these four factors, we can predict pregnancy
with an accuracy of 70%,” Dr. Yao said in the study, adding that knowing them
may prove “critical in counseling patients,” who have already attempted IVF and are wondering if they should try
again. Also, the method might “improve treatment” and ultimately will help with
“developing…more customized treatments.”
The findings of the study were published in the July 2 issue of PLoS ONE.