Non-Invasive Chromosomal Screening: A game-changer in IVF treatments

GUWAHATI: Infertility is a worldwide problem. About 10-15% of couples in India are said to have fertility issues.

For such couples, the IVF (In Vitro Fertilization) treatment is a ray of hope. This treatment involves fertilizing female eggs with the male sperm in a laboratory setup and then growing them.

The most mature and normal looking embryo is selected for implantation. This treatment has established its competence and effectiveness in managing infertility.

Today, the average success rate of IVF is 40% - 60%. There are various reasons why an IVF is not always successful. The major reason is defective embryo quality which may result in repeated IVF failures, recurrent pregnancy loss, unexplained infertility etc.

The chances of defective embryos also increase when the age of the patient is more than 35years. Data shows that almost 50% of embryos are chromosomally abnormal (aneuploid).

Hence, after the transfer of such embryos for implantation, they are rejected by nature, and only chromosomally normal embryos (euploid) are accepted by the body.

To address this issue, there is an increase in the use of genetic screening tests for selecting normal embryos. These genetic screening tests are a major advancement in IVF treatments.

Currently available genetic testing techniques such as PGT-A (Pre-Implantation Genetic test - Aneuploidy) helps in screening and choosing chromosomally healthy embryos for implantation.

For PGT-A, embryo biopsy is performed under the microscope with the help of LASER technology, and then these cells are studied for chromosomal abnormalities. Institute of Human Reproduction (IHR) is the only clinic in entire North East India offering PGT-A since 2009.

Recently, under the guidance of Dr Deepak Goenka, Director, and Rashmi Goenka, Chief Embryologist, Institute of Human Reproduction, Guwahati, introduced in North East India, the newer and reliable non-invasive genetic screening tests such as the NICS (Non-Invasive Chromosomal Screening).

This process helps to determine whether the embryos have the proper chromosome number. In India, NICS is available only in a few of the metro cities like Mumbai, Kolkata, and Hyderabad. Guwahati is offering this facility to couples undergoing or planning to undergo IVF.

In the current practice, many IVF centres prefer the transfer of two or more blastocysts to ensure successful implantation.

However, on many occasions, it results in twin or multiple pregnancies, which are medically considered as high-risk pregnancies which result in poor pregnancy outcomes. Such pregnancies are associated with various complications such as abortion, pre-term delivery, hypertension during pregnancy and low birth weight babies requiring NICU care. NICS can guide the IVF specialist to transfer a single euploid blastocyst, thus, avoiding multifetal pregnancy, stated a press release.

All the above factors prove the effectiveness of NICS and make it a game-changer in IVF treatment.

Also Read: Depression & Anxiety: Leading cause of In-vitro fertilization (IVF) failure in women

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