Posted: 4/11/2006
DVIF&G; Team Members Are Featured Speakers at IVM Conference
Two members of the DVIF&G; team recently spoke at a conference on in vitro maturation (IVM), a new technological advance in assisted reproduction. Dr. George S. Taliadouros, founder and president of DVIF&G;, and Jessica A. Macdonald, supervisor of DVIF&G;'s reproductive laboratories, shared their experiences with IVM at the conference held at the Safety Harbor Resort and Spa in Safety Harbor, Florida.

If a woman with PCOS undergoes a full course of fertility-drug treatment to boost egg production for in vitro fertilization (IVF), her ovaries can become hyperstimulated, a very serious condition that can lead to life-threatening breathing problems, blood clots, and kidney failure. Severe hyperstimulation of the ovaries also can cause strokes and other long-term complications. IVF involves joining a mature egg and sperm in a dish, growing embryos, and then transferring in order to implant some in the uterus. Approximately 2 million babies have been born worldwide using the technology. An experimental technique called in vitro maturation (IVM) offered by DVIF&G; prevents women with PCOS from ovarian hyperstimulation by dramatically decreasing the length of time spent taking fertility drugs. The technique involves removing immature eggs, ripening them in a lab dish, and then adding sperm. Christine Mozes of Lumberton, the first to undergo IVM at DVIF&G;, became pregnant last fall and is due later this year.

START (Success Through Assisted Reproductive Technologies) at DVIF&G; is one among a handful of programs in the country to offer in vitro maturation of oocytes (eggs). During this procedure a minimal amount of injectable medication is given to stimulate the egg production by the patient’s ovary, and oocytes are retrieved when they are still immature. The retrieved oocytes are then matured overnight in the laboratory using a special culture solution. The matured oocyte may be fertilized with intracytoplasmic injection of the partner’s sperm (ICSI procedure), and the process continues as if the patient had a conventional IVF-ET procedure. The end result is a safe process for those patients that are at high risk to develop ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS). Current conception rates are comparable with traditional IVF-ET cycles.

According to Ms. Macdonald, she and Dr. Taliadouros were asked to participate in the discussion due to their practice's early success with IVM. They shared their knowledge of appropriate IVM treatment, laboratory requirements, and other technical aspects of the procedure.