Single Embryo Transfers Better than Double?
December 2, 2004
(Ivanhoe Newswire) –Women opting to undergo a single embryo transfer instead of a double embryo transfer during in vitro fertilization can decrease the chance of multiple births without substantially lowering live births, according to a new study.
Researchers in Sweden studied 661 women younger than 36 and compared the two approaches of in vitro fertilization. They also evaluated pregnancy rates resulting in at least one live birth and rates of multiple pregnancies.
Results show about 42 percent of the women receiving a double embryo transfer became pregnant resulting in at least one live birth compared to about 38 percent who received a single embryo transfer. The rate of multiple births in the single embryo transfer group was 0.8 percent vs. about 33 percent in the double embryo transfer group.
Researchers note while the rates of live births between the two methods are not close enough to claim an equivalent result, the difference is unlikely to exceed 11.6 percent.
Authors conclude, “In women under 36 years of age, transferring one fresh embryo and then, if needed, one frozen-and-thawed embryo dramatically reduces the rate of multiple births while achieving a rate of live births that is not substantially lower than the rate that is achievable with a double-embryo transfer.”
SOURCE: The New England Journal of Medicine, 2004;351:2392-2402
