INTRODUCTION This study aimed to investigate patients' evaluation of a compulsory pre-in vitro fertilisation (IVF) counselling session in Singapore and determine their attitudes towards attending a support group during IVF treatment. METHODS 464 patients due to undergo their first IVF treatment were recruited at the Clinic for Human Reproduction, National University Hospital, Singapore. All p...

OBJECTIVE To investigate whether hypnosis during ET contributes to successful IVF/ET outcome. DESIGN Case-control clinical study. SETTING Academic Fertility and IVF Unit, Soroka Medical Center, Beer-Sheva, Israel. PATIENT(S) Infertile couples undergoing IVF. INTERVENTION(S) Ninety-eight IVF/ET cycles with hypnosis during the ET procedure were matched with 96 regular IVF/ET cycles. MAI...

OBJECTIVE To conduct a meta-analysis of studies assessing the effect of IVF and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) on birth defects. DESIGN Meta-analysis. SETTING Centers for reproductive care. PATIENT(S) Patients treated by IVF and/or ICSI. INTERVENTION(S) We identified all studies published by September 2011 with data related to birth defects in children conceived by IVF and/or I...

OBJECTIVE To determine whether failure to adequately adjust for a reported 40% misclassification of use of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) as reported in a Swedish study could have led to a false finding that folic acid increases dizygotic twinning. DESIGN Modelling with population based data. SETTING Swedish vital records for 1995-9. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Rates of twinning calculated accord...

BACKGROUND Infertility is common and in vitro fertilization (IVF) is a widely used treatment. In IVF the need increases and the effectiveness and appropriateness decrease by age. The purpose of this study was to describe allocation of resources for IVF by women's age, socioeconomic position, area of residence and treatment sector (public vs. private) and to discuss how fairly the IVF resources ...

BACKGROUND Little is known about post-natal growth in IVF offspring and the effects of rates of early post-natal growth on blood pressure and body fat composition during childhood and adolescence. METHODS The follow-up study comprised 233 IVF children aged 8-18 years and 233 spontaneously conceived controls born to subfertile parents. Growth data from birth to 4 years of age, available for 39...

BACKGROUND Despite ongoing progresses of IVF techniques, biomarkers predicting their outcome prior to IVF initiation are lacking. We investigated whether serum levels of the stress-inducible soluble major histocompatibility complex Class I chain-related molecule, MICA, (sMIC), a regulator of cellular immunity, can be predictive of implantation or pregnancy failure after IVF. METHODS sMIC seru...

BACKGROUND Sperm DNA damage is common amongst infertile men and may adversely impact natural reproduction, IUI-assisted reproduction and to a lesser degree IVF pregnancy. The aim of this study was to examine the influence of sperm DNA damage on the risk of spontaneous pregnancy loss after IVF and ICSI. METHODS We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies on sperm DNA damage a...

Sperm DNA damage is prevalent among infertile men and is known to influence natural reproduction. However, the impact of sperm DNA damage on assisted reproduction outcomes remains controversial. Here, we conducted a meta-analysis of studies on sperm DNA damage (assessed by SCSA, TUNEL, SCD, or Comet assay) and clinical pregnancy after IVF and/or ICSI treatment from MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PUBMED d...

BACKGROUND In the last decade, numerous studies have demonstrated concern about the presence of hydrosalpinx and its management in patients undergoing IVF. We evaluated the current management of hydrosalpinx prior to IVF treatment in the UK. METHODS A total of 117 postal survey, anonymous, sealed questionnaires were sent to all IVF centres in the UK, to determine the policy for the management...