The team at USC Fertility invests in each patient they see by optimizing their time at the annual meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine #ASRM2015, that draws more than 8,000 people from 83 countries.
Drs. Richard Paulson, Karine Chung, Kristin Bendikson and Marsha Baker and office manager Ani Derhartonian divided and conquered the sessions each day. Dr. Bendikson downloaded an app to keep track, and says: “There were just too many great offerings, but I was especially interested in those addressing recurrent pregnancy loss.”
PGS or No PGS. Gleaning Insights from the World’s Leading Fertility Specialists
One session that Dr. Bendikson attended posed a question: Is in vitro fertilization/preimplantation genetic screening, PGS, useful for recurrent pregnancy loss? After discussing the pros and cons, the physicians, embryologists and geneticists in attendance responded to an interactive poll — 84% indicated that, yes, they would consider PGS the first line treatment for recurrent pregnancy loss.
“The majority of providers think that the use of PGS is an effective tool for patients to have after experiencing multiple pregnancy losses,” says Dr. Bendikson. “It’s important to also remind our patients that PGS won’t necessarily solve the problem, and other modalities, including a full fertility work up and a good deal of support, are important, too.”
Improvements to “One-Size-Fits-All” Progesterone Support
One exciting finding that Dr. Bendikson hopes to share with her patients improves current protocols for correctly priming the uterus for frozen embryo transfer. “For any given patient, planning for exogenous progesterone is a little different,” she says. “One size does not fit all.”
New studies presented at #ASRM2015 assessed DNA markers in the uterine tissue that showed that if you give everyone the same amount of progesterone exposure, a third of patients are not optimized for embryo transfer. Some are pre-receptive and need more progesterone, and a small percentage is post-receptive.
“A uterine biopsy and lab test performed in a test cycle helps prepare us to make small tweaks to perfect the uterine environment prior to the frozen embryo cycle. This could potentially improve pregnancy rates, and I am anxious to introduce it to my patients.”
Follow USC Fertility Research
Our Los Angeles fertility center leads and collaborates on fertility research that changes how reproductive medicine is practiced in the U.S. and abroad. At ASRM, physicians presented the following:
The detection and clinical utilization of antimullerian hormone (AMH) in postmenopausal women using the new highly sensitive Elisa. (Dr. Bendikson)
Why are IVF pregnancy rates lower in women of Asian ethnicity: An analysis of ethnicity-matched oocyte donor cycles (Dr. Chung, Dr. Bendikson)
Perinatal outcomes in pregnancies achieved through gestational surrogacy: Investigating the influence of treatment versus host effects on assisted reproductive technology outcomes (Dr. Paulson, Dr. Chung)
Tamoxifen metabolites in breast cancer patients undergoing controlled ovarian hyperstimulation: Are we achieving therapeutic levels? (Dr. Chung)
Pregnancy outcomes per transfer after PGS via array CGH is constant through maternal age (Dr. Chung)
Motherhood after age 50: Long-term follow up of physical and mental well-being of women who became mothers through oocyte donation (Dr. Paulson)
“We attend ASRM because it’s very important to be up to date on the latest infertility treatments, the technologies coming down the pipeline in the next five years and current issues that our peers are debating,” says the Los Angeles fertility specialist.
To schedule an appointment with our Los Angeles fertility center, contact us here.
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