HD Australia

IVF clinic develops improved screening
http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/latest/691 ... screening/

                   
          
By Danny Rose, Medical Writer, AAP
               
March 10, 2010, 12:23am                                                                                                                                      
                                        
     
An Australian IVF clinic has developed a technique that couldrevolutionise the pre-screening of embryos, boosting the prospects ofmany couples seeking to have a healthy baby.
Sydney IVF hasdeveloped an improved method of PGD - Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis- which allows embryos to be checked to rule out those likely tomiscarry or prone to hereditary disease.
Scientific directorSteven McArthur said conventional PGD processes were very good atflagging those embryos with genetic abnormalities ahead of implantationin a woman's womb, though it could be too sensitive.
"With the old technique ... it had a high false negative rate," Mr McArthur told AAP.
"Withthis method, we are able to look at the DNA more accurately, and whatwe've found is a doubling of the number of embryos available fortransfer.
"Patients who would otherwise have had one or two,would see themselves having two or in the best case having four embryosavailable for transfer."
Mr McArthur said the new techniqueenabled more healthy embryos to be identified and this increased acouple's chance of a successful full-term pregnancy without goingthrough repeated IVF cycles.
Less than 10 per cent of couples who seek pregnancy help at an IVF clinic do so to access PGD services.
Thechief concern for these couples was usually not their fertility buttheir genetic make-up, as they could carry chromosomes which made themprone to repeated miscarriages.
Or they had a family history ofhereditary disease, such as cystic fibrosis or Fragile X Syndrome, thata couple wanted to prevent from being passed on to their child.
"Very much, they have a history of (hereditary) conditions in their family and a lot have lost children," Mr McArthur said.
"They get to a point where they seek out another choice in their reproductive capacity."
SydneyIVF will publish its improved PGD method in the journal Molecular HumanReproduction next month, ensuring other IVF clinics with similarequipment can now freely replicate it.
"This technique can be takenby clinics nationally and internationally ... so across the board itshould revolutionise the way that people test specifically forchromosome translocation," he said.