Women given cheaper fertility treatment that requires fewer drugs could have more chance of becoming pregnant than if they opt for conventional IVF, researchers said yesterday.
Women given cheaper fertility treatment that requires fewer drugs could have more chance of becoming pregnant than if they opt for conventional IVF, researchers said yesterday.
In-Vitro Maturation (IVM) avoids the use of high doses of fertility drugs to mature a woman's eggs inside her body.Instead, eggs are removed and allowed them to mature for one to two days in the laboratory.
They are then fertilised with sperm before being put back into the woman's womb.
A new study from the Oxford Fertility Clinic - the only UK clinic to offer IVM - found the technique gave a higher success rate than for IVF.
Among women under 35 - all of whom had an ovary condition that affects fertility - 48% became pregnant with IVM using their own fresh eggs and the percentage achieving a clinical pregnancy, where the baby's heart beat is detected, was 33%. This compares with a UK national average of 31% for those in the same age group having conventional IVF.
Overall, the Oxford unit achieved a pregnancy rate of 35% for its first 40 cases among women of all ages.
However, experts say IVM is not suitable for older women who have very few eggs left in their ovaries. The research was presented yesterday at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine conference in San Francisco.
Around 400 babies worldwide have been born through IVM, which costs £1500 less than conventional IVF due to there being no need for many of the fertility drugs. IVF costs around £4000 per cycle.
The most recent figures in Scotland show around 150,000 couples have difficulty conceiving. In 2006, the country's six IVF clinics carried out treatment which resulted in 908 births and 1118 babies.
UK-wide figures reveal the live birth rate rose in 2006, with 23.1% of treatment cycles resulting in a live birth, up 1.5% on the previous year.
However, the drugs used in IVF can cause serious side effects, including ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome. Women who suffer from polycystic ovary syndrome are at higher risk of developing ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome and therefore doctors say that those with PCOS may opt for IVM to avoid using the fertility drugs associated with IVF.
Dr Geeta Nargund, chief executive of the Her Trust and consultant in reproductive medicine at St George's Hospital in London, said a team in Denmark was trying the technique in women without PCOS, but had not yet reported results.
However Professor Robert Fleming, of Glasgow Centre for Reproductive Medicine, which offers private fertility treatment, said that for most women aged under 35, IVF was still likely to be the best treatment available.
He said: "IVM does have a role to play in fertility treatment, but I would see this for a particular sub-group of women, those suffering from PCOS. We have a clinical pregnancy rate of 56% for women under 35, which is the highest in Scotland. There are other clinics in the UK with even higher rates than this.
"The latest IVM results are good, and I think for younger women with PCOS the technique will enable safer treatment. However I can't see it being used for all women under 35, not when conventional IVF results are better.
"The real area of debate is how to increase success rates for older women, and sadly they won't be helped by this technique."
