Panama City, Sep 22 (EFE).- The use of pre-implantation genetic screening (PGS) as a tool in in-vitro fertilization increases the chance of pregnancy on the first try to 70 percent, according to physicians at the IVI Panama clinic.
Combining techniques in a process known as IVF PLUS (IVF+PGS) also significantly reduces the probabilities of babies with genetic diseases, the clinic director, Dr. Roberto Epifanio, told EFE.
IVI Panama has long used PGS to achieve the gestation of healthy babies, while offering IVF to couples unable to conceive in the usual way, he said.
Now, the approaches are combined as a single procedure.
“We know that in women over 30 the chances of getting pregnant start diminishing rapidly because the quality of the eggs is decreasing, which may result in an abnormal embryo,” the clinic director said.
While in recent years, Epifanio said, the clinic is also seeing women in their 20s who experience difficulties in getting pregnant as a result of life-style changes and the unusually early onset of some diseases.
An analysis of the embryo before its implantation in the mother’s uterus allows detection of conditions such as Down syndrome, hemophilia and sickle-cell anemia, the doctor said.
Epifanio said that the rate of successful IVF gestation among women over 40 who do not opt for PGS is around 10 percent, while the use of IVF PLUS increases the chance of success to 70 percent.
Antonio Requena, medical director of IVI España, told EFE that the IVF+PGS approach provides patients a better chance of a viable pregnancy, reducing the emotional stress derived from negative results in pregnancy tests.