BEYOND IN VITRO FERTILIZATION � NEW TECHNIQUES OFFER RENEWED HOPE TO THE INFERTILE COUPLE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) March 30, 2007 -- Eliran Mor, MD
Michael Vermesh, MD
The Center for Fertility and Gynecology
Tarzana, CA

The roller coaster ride of fertility treatment is emotionally and physically exhausting. Couples typically begin treatment with simple and relatively inexpensive interventions such as ovulation induction and intrauterine insemination (IUI), and when treatment has failed, progress to injectable medications and finally in vitro fertilization (IVF). Each treatment protocol may last up to one month and several cycles of the same method are often repeated to maximize chances for success.


The IVF process, while expensive and physically demanding, has been associated with the highest success rates of all treatment modalities. However, many couples remain childless after one or more attempts. Couples who have failed IVF multiple times are often depressed, angry, disappointed, discouraged, and in general emotionally, physically, and financially drained. If IVF, the procedure with the highest success rate for achieving pregnancy, has failed, what other hope is there?

When standard IVF has failed multiple times, some infertility specialists offer couples a procedure in which gametes (eggs and sperm) or zygotes (day-one embryos) are transferred into the fallopian tubes: gamete intra-fallopian transfer (GIFT), or zygote intra-fallopian transfer (ZIFT). In GIFT and ZIFT, all steps from downregulation to ovarian stimulation to egg retrieval, are identical to standard IVF. However, several important differences exist. In a GIFT procedure, retrieved eggs and sperm are mixed together and transferred into one or both fallopian tubes (where natural fertilization normally occurs). In a ZIFT procedure, on the other hand, fertilization is allowed to take place in the laboratory just like in standard IVF, however when day-one embryos are formed, they are transferred into the fallopian tube(s).

Success rates, although reported to be higher than standard IVF when prior IVF cycles have failed, are only modestly higher and are individualized to different IVF clinics. In our program, for example, we found that with prior failed IVF cycles, a GIFT or ZIFT procedure achieved similar pregnancy success rates to standard IVF.

So what is next? Recently, yet another technique had been described offering the infertile couple who had exhausted all other standard treatment modalities (IVF, GIFT, ZIFT) true hope: combination GIFT/IVF or ZIFT/IVF. In these procedures, all known technologies are combined to maximize success rates.

What are the basic requirements prior to GIFT/IVF or ZIFT/IVF?

Several limitations exist with either a GIFT or ZIFT procedure. First, tubal embryo transfer is not suitable for patients with tubal factor infertility, as at least one normal tube has to be present. An x-ray test called a hysterosalpingogram (HSG) would be required before surgery to confirm tubal patency.

Eliran Mor, MD and Michael Vermesh, MD can be reached at 818-881-9800 or www.vermesh.com