The New England Journal of Medicine has a good review article this week about IVF (in vitro fertilisation, or 'test tube' conceptions). Although it is aimed at doctors, most of the piece is pretty readable and it summarises well where we are with this form of infertility treatment.
It opens with the following vignette:
A 37-year-old woman who has never been pregnant and her 40-year-old husband have been attempting to conceive a child for the past 3 years. An infertility evaluation has shown no cause for the difficulty. She is ovulating regularly, and a hysterosalpingogram shows that her reproductive tract is anatomically normal. He has a normal sperm count; he has not fathered any children. They are frustrated and want to proceed with in vitro fertilization. What should you advise?
The article starts with an overview of when IVF is recommended, success rates, a nice diagram summarising the actual procedure of the treatment (full size), and finally some discussion of the risks both to the woman undergoing treatment as well as the risks to the baby conceived.
You can read the article in PDF format (600kB).
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Posted by: Mister | June 05, 2007 at 01:22 AM