THE FIRST CONFIRMED clinical pregnancy in Ireland using a new technique known as ‘Blastocyst Vitrification’ has just been announced by Waterstone Clinic. The clinic, which has been providing assisted conception services for over a decade, this week confirmed an on-going twin pregnancy of eight week’s gestation.

Waterstone Clinic’s Medical Director, Dr John Waterstone commented: “We are delighted to confirm the first clinical pregnancy using vitrification in Ireland.

Vitrification is a new technique for cryopreserving embryos which involves freezing the embryo about 600 times faster than ever before. This ultrarapid process is so fast that it literally allows no time for intracellular ice formation – which can cause trauma to the embryos. In conventional (slow) freezing only 70% of embryos survive the freeze-thaw process, and those that do survive have less likelihood of generating a pregnancy. In contrast, embryos which have been ‘vitrified’ have a greater than 90% freeze-thaw survival rate, and a pregnancy generating potential that is comparable to treatment cycles carried out using fresh embryos.”

The Irish Medicines Board approved the introduction of vitrification services at several Irish fertility clinics earlier this year, allowing them to provide patients with an improved chance of success using frozen embryos.

Waterstone Clinic is exceptionally proud of the contribution Dr Waterstone and his team have made to clinical research and development in the field of assisted conception, since the clinic first opened in 2002.

In 2007, the clinic was the first in Ireland to introduce an ‘Elective Single Embryo Transfer’ (E-SET) policy which, to date, has produced a live birth rate of 60% per embryo transfer. The policy was developed to reduce the number of multiple pregnancies resulting from assisted conception treatment. Its continued success, along with the introduction of this new vitrification freezing technique, will significantly increase the chances of a successful outcome for patients going forward, without raising the cost of IVF treatment.

Irish Examiner

By Claire O’Sullivan

A fertility clinic in Cork is the first in Ireland to introduce a service which promises a 90%-plus survival rate for frozen embryos, as they will be frozen 600 times faster than before.

The new process, known as vitrification, will improve outcomes for couples who are undergoing intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) or in vitro fertilisation (IVF).

Generally, as part of the IVF process, several embryos are generated, with one transferred to the womb and the remaining embryos are often frozen.

Vitrification “avoids trauma” to the embryo because of the speed at which freezing takes place compared to traditional, slower, freezing.

The process leads to better quality embryos, which are more likely to lead to a pregnancy.

Already, one woman has become pregnant with twins using vitrification, according to the Waterstone Clinic.

Susan Waterstone of the Waterstone Clinic said the vitrification process was so fast it allowed no time for intracellular ice formation.

“As a result, vitrification avoids trauma to the embryos. In conventional slow freezing, only 70% of embryos survive the freeze-thaw, and those that do survive have less likelihood of generating a pregnancy compared to fresh embryos.

“In contrast, vitrified embryos have a better than 90% freeze-thaw survival rate, and a pregnancy generating potential that is comparable to fresh embryos.”

An embryo is described as the product of human conception after it is implanted in the uterus wall. It remains an embryo until the eighth week of development in the womb, after which it is a foetus.

One of the challenges of modern assisted reproduction is how to minimise the likelihood of twins without compromising the chances of a woman giving birth.

The transfer of two embryos to the womb, increasing the likelihood of one pregnancy, has been the norm in fertility clinics for 25 years, but has a 25% incidence of twins.

However, if, due to age or health reasons a couple would rather a single pregnancy, vitrification is being seen as a good method to increase successes rate without running the risk of a multiple birth.

“Couples who fund their own treatment and are desperate for success are more likely to agree to single embryo transfer if it is supported by a highly successful frozen embryo transfer programme,” said Dr Waterstone.

“The live birth rate of our blastocyst elective single embryo transfer programme for the past three years is 60% per transfer. Vitrification will further encourage more couples to opt for single embryo transfer.”

Vitrification will not raise the cost of IVF treatment at the Waterstone Clinic. IVF at the clinic costs €3,750 and ICSI €4,250.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/health/fertility-process-raises-pregnancy-hope-197827.html