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(wz) Hundreds of accidents at fertility clinics have led to couples’ precious embryos being lost, damaged or destroyed, the Government has ­admitted.
More than 500 “adverse incidents” have been recorded by clinics since 2003, with a sharp rise in the number of errors reported last year.
Errors typically involved the loss of embryos, eggs or sperm through staff dropping dishes, tripping when holding them or accidentally throwing them away.
Failures of equipment also compromised the survival of embryos, including power failures affecting vital electrical equipment.
In 2006/7, 224 incidents were reported at clinics across England and Wales, figures released last week show.
That is more than double the 97 recorded in the previous year. Dawn Primarolo, the health minister, insisted the rise was due to improved use of reporting systems to detect errors and “near-misses”.
Dr Gillian Lockwood, the medical director of Midland Fertility Services, said embryologists were working in an extremely delicate field where human error could never be eliminated, however tragic its consequences. more…

From: »The Daily Telegraph«

(cz) The Ministry of Health has approved the IVF (in vitro fertilization) center of the Van Hanh General Hospital, the fourth in HCM City.
The Health Ministry recognized the Van Hanh IVF Center based on its operations since July 2007. From July 2007 to the end of February 2008, this agency has examined and provided treatment for over 300 couples, using technology such as intrauterine insemination (IUI), In vitro fertilization (IVF), Intra-Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection(ISCI) and Percutaneous epididymal sperm aspiration - intracytoplasmic sperm injection (PESA – ICSI). more…

From: »VietNamNet«

(cz) A husband was horrified to discover his estranged wife twice gave birth without his consent using frozen embryos fertilised at a Cambridgeshire clinic.
Bourn Hall Clinic, based in Bourn, has said it has tightened up identification procedures after it emerged a woman used her husband’s sperm to have children without his permission.
The woman, who cannot be identified due to patient confidentiality, conceived two children during IVF treatment at Bourn Hall Clinic after forging her estranged husband’s signature.
The man only found out he was a father when one of the children became seriously ill and he was contacted by a relative.
Bourn Hall Clinic denies there are outstanding legal proceedings related to the case and has tightened procedures since the children were born several years ago.
Dr Thomas Mathews, clinical medical director, said: “There has been a case where a woman deceived us into implanting embryos without her husband’s consent.
“The Human Fertility and Embryology Authority recommends that husbands are present, but it is not a legal requirement.” more…

From: »Cambidge News«

(sz) The world’s first trial of a fertility treatment designed to be more natural than IVF is to be launched in Britain today. [Feb., 27th – ed.]
The treatment, called in vivo development, or IVD, aims to take the test tube out of the test tube baby process by allowing fertilised eggs to develop in the mother’s womb rather than a dish in the lab.
The year-long trial, involving fertility clinics in Nottingham and elsewhere in Europe, follows a successful small-scale pilot study in Belgium, which suggested the new technique led to better quality embryos with fewer abnormalities.
Simon Fishel, who will lead the British arm of the trial at the CARE Group of fertility clinics in Nottingham, said IVD promised to be a more natural way for fertilised eggs to grow and may result in healthier embryos. “What’s beautiful about it is that the environment exactly matches what the embryo in the natural situation will be used to, and it doesn’t have that in the lab,” he said.
“If we can replace the lab with the womb for 90% of the IVF process, then for me this will be a new era in IVF. For the majority of IVF patients, there is a prospect that this will be the way to go.”
In the normal IVF process, eggs are fertilised with sperm and allowed to grow in a dish containing chemicals and nutrients, which simulate the biological conditions in the reproductive tract. After four days or so in culture, the embryos are ready to implant in the woman’s womb.
The new treatment replaces the Petri dish almost completely. Instead, each freshly fertilised egg is inserted into a perforated silicone capsule less than 1mm wide, which is placed into the womb through the cervix using a thread-like wire. There, holes in the capsule allow hormones and other chemicals in the mother’s womb to surround the embryo as it grows without it attaching to the lining. A few days later, the capsule is removed so the embryo can be implanted into the womb as usual. more…

From: »The Guardian«

(sz) Britain will put on trial shortly a new IVF (in-vitro fertilization) technique which lets eggs develop in the womb rather than the test-tube straight after fertilization, New Scientist reported Wednesday on its website.
The new technique, that allows embryos created in the lab to be incubated inside a perforated silicon container inserted into a woman’s own womb, was developed by Swiss company Anecova, according to the report.
In standard IVF, eggs harvested from a woman are fertilized in the lab and allowed to develop in an incubator for 2 to 5 days. The healthiest embryos are chosen to be transferred into the uterus. But this new technique would see fertilized eggs placed in a device which is then planted in the womb. After a few days the device is taken out and the embryo deemed to have the best chances of survival reimplanted.
The new device (”silicon womb”) that holds test-tube embryos inside the womb to expose them to more natural conditions provides a more natural environment and may produce better quality embryos and reduce the need to harvest so many eggs from infertile women, according to researchers. more…

From: »Xinhua News Agency«

(sz) In-vitro fertilization may soon become much more effective, if a new device dubbed the “silicone womb” comes out of testing successfully. Currently test-tube embryos are developed in an incubator, but the .2-inch long silicone womb, produced by Anecova, allows them to be implanted inside the mother for up to four days, during which time they’re exposed to the uterus through 360 40-micron holes. more…

From: »Engadget«

(cz) The Center for Assisted Reproduction (CAR) today announced it will be the first IVF center in the southwest to offer the Repromedix’s Plan Ahead™ test, an innovative blood test that provides an assessment of a woman’s egg supply by combining multiple factors including the measurement of ovary-related hormones AMH, Inhibin B, and FSH. The window of opportunity for a woman to have children by natural conception is dependent upon an adequate supply of eggs which inevitably declines as a woman ages and her “biological clock ticks.” Plan Ahead enables a woman to compare her estimated egg supply with the normal range expected for women of the same age. In addition, the Plan Ahead Report provides valuable directional information for women planning to have children after their late twenties.
“The Center for Assisted Reproduction has been a pioneer of cutting edge assisted reproductive technologies,” said Kathleen Doody, MD, co-founder of CAR with her husband Kevin Doody, MD. “CAR was the first IVF center nationwide to implement extended embryo culture (blastocyst culture) for all of its IVF patients and we had the first intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). So being the first in the Southwest to offer the Plan Ahead test aligns perfectly with our mission.” more…

From: »Marketwire« (Press Release)