Preconception carrier screening in couples seeking IVF: exploring the patient perspective.

Research Question: What is the level of understanding, and what are the attitudes and considerations regarding preconception carrier screening (PCS) among couples seeking IVF or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI)?

Design: A mixed-methods design was used. Nine interviews were conducted with couples or individual partners (n = 16) who had an initial consultation for IVF/ICSI in the 2 years preceding this study. A questionnaire was completed by 115 participants.

Outcomes of female fertility preservation with cryopreservation of oocytes or embryos in the Netherlands: a population-based study.

Study Question: What are the reproductive outcomes of patients who cryopreserved oocytes or embryos in the context of fertility preservation in the Netherlands?

Summary Answer: This study shows that after a 10-year follow-up period, the utilization rate to attempt pregnancy using cryopreserved oocytes or embryos was 25.5% and the cumulative live birth rate after embryo transfer was 34.6% per patient.

Pregnancy rate and time to pregnancy after recurrent implantation failure (RIF)-a prospective cohort follow-up study.

Purpose: The goal of this study was to determine ongoing pregnancy rate, time to pregnancy and embryo transfers to pregnancy within a cohort of patients with recurrent implantation failure (RIF).

Methods: IVF patients with RIF were included after referral to the RIF outpatient clinic. They received a questionnaire 1 year after inclusion.

Clinical-grade whole genome sequencing-based haplarithmisis enables all forms of preimplantation genetic testing.

High-throughput sequencing technologies have increasingly led to discovery of disease-causing genetic variants, primarily in postnatal multi-cell DNA samples. However, applying these technologies to preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) in nuclear or mitochondrial DNA from single or few-cells biopsied from in vitro fertilised (IVF) embryos is challenging. PGT aims to select IVF embryos without genetic abnormalities.

No evidence for a diminished ovarian reserve among patients with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy: a case control study.

Background: Existing evidence suggests a relation between cardiovascular dysfunction and diminished ovarian reserve. While it is known that pre-existent cardiovascular dysfunction is also associated with the development of preeclampsia (PE) during pregnancy, we hypothesize that signs of diminished ovarian reserve may occur more frequently among women with a history of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP). The aim of our study was therefore to analyse if women with a history of HDP show signs of diminished ovarian reserve, represented by lower anti-Mullarian hormone (AMH) levels, compared to controls.

Considerations of breast cancer survivors to return for embryo transfer after fertility preservation: A qualitative study.

Objective: To gain insight into the considerations of breast cancer survivors to return or not for embryo transfer after the use of fertility preservation.

Study Design: This is a qualitative study with semi-structured interviews. The interviews were planned until saturation of themes had been achieved.

Local production of 17β-oestradiol in the endometrium during the implantation window: a pilot study.

Abstract: Sex steroids are converted to bioactive metabolites and vice versa by endometrial steroid-metabolising enzymes. Studies indicate that alterations in this metabolism might affect endometrial receptivity. This pilot study determined whether the endometrial formation and inactivation of 17β-oestradiol differed between the supposedly embryo-receptive endometrium and non-receptive endometrium of women undergoing IVF/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).

A multicentre double-blinded randomized controlled trial on the efficacy of laser-assisted hatching in patients with repeated implantation failure undergoing IVF or ICSI.

Study Question: Does assisted hatching increase the cumulative live birth rate in subfertile couples with repeated implantation failure?

Summary Answer: This study showed no evidence of effect for assisted hatching as an add-on in subfertile couples with repeated implantation failure.

What Is Known Already: The efficacy of assisted hatching, with regard to the live birth rate has not been convincingly demonstrated in randomized trials nor meta-analyses. It is suggested though that especially poor prognosis women, e.

Preimplantation genetic testing for Neurofibromatosis type 1: more than 20 years of clinical experience.

Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is an autosomal dominant disorder that affects the skin and the nervous system. The condition is completely penetrant with extreme clinical variability, resulting in unpredictable manifestations in affected offspring, complicating reproductive decision-making. One of the reproductive options to prevent the birth of affected offspring is preimplantation genetic testing (PGT).

At age 9, the methylome of assisted reproductive technology children that underwent embryo culture in different media is not significantly different on a genome-wide scale.

Study Question: Can we detect DNA methylation differences between ART children that underwent embryo culture in different media?

Summary Answer: We identified no significant differences in site-specific or regional DNA methylation between the different culture medium groups.

What Is Known Already: Embryo culture in G3 or K-SICM medium leads to differences in embryonic, neonatal and childhood outcomes, including growth and weight. The methylome may mediate this association as the period of in vitro culture of ART treatments coincides with epigenetic reprogramming.

Methylome-wide analysis of IVF neonates that underwent embryo culture in different media revealed no significant differences.

A growing number of children born are conceived through in vitro fertilisation (IVF), which has been linked to an increased risk of adverse perinatal outcomes, as well as altered growth profiles and cardiometabolic differences in the resultant individuals. Some of these outcomes have also been shown to be influenced by the use of different IVF culture media and this effect is hypothesised to be mediated epigenetically, e.g.

Endometrial factors in the implantation failure spectrum: protocol of a MUltidisciplinary observational cohort study in women with Repeated Implantation failure and recurrent Miscarriage (MURIM Study).

Introduction: Women with repeated implantation failure (RIF) and unexplained recurrent miscarriage (RM) are proposed to be at opposite ends of the implantation spectrum, with RM representing an overly receptive endometrium (implantation of genetically aberrant or poor-quality embryos) versus RIF representing an overly selective endometrium (no implantation even with good quality embryos). In both cases, often no explanation for reproductive failure can be found and although promising add-on treatments have been introduced, therapeutic options are frequently limited to supportive care. Both RM and RIF are multifactorial and research indicates that the interplay between steroidogenesis, uterine natural killer (uNK) cells and the microbiome determine the capacity of the endometrium to be a biosensor for invading embryos.

Preconceptional evaluation of women with recurrent pregnancy loss: the additional value of assessing vascular and metabolic status.

Background: A majority of recurrent pregnancy loss cases (RPL) remains unexplained. We hypothesized that complications in vascular and metabolic status may guide towards underlying problems that also predispose to RPL and that the number of pregnancy losses is related.

Methods: A retrospective study in 123 women with either a history of low-order RPL (2-3 pregnancy losses) or high-order RPL (≥ 4 pregnancy losses) and 20 women with a history of uncomplicated pregnancy (controls) was performed.

Long-Term Risk of Ovarian Cancer and Borderline Tumors After Assisted Reproductive Technology.

Background: Long-term effects of assisted reproductive technology (ART) on ovarian tumor risk are unknown.

Methods: This nationwide cohort study comprises 30 625 women who received ovarian stimulation for ART in 1983-2000 and 9988 subfertile women not treated with ART. Incident invasive and borderline ovarian tumors were ascertained through linkage with the Netherlands Cancer Registry and the Dutch Pathology Registry until July 2018.

Tubal flushing with oil-based or water-based contrast at hysterosalpingography for infertility: long-term reproductive outcomes of a randomized trial.

Objective: To determine the impact of oil-based versus water-based contrast on pregnancy and live birth rates ≤5 years after hysterosalpingography (HSG) in infertile women.

Design: A 5-year follow-up study of a multicenter randomized trial.

Setting: Hospitals.

Motives and considerations regarding PGT in couples carrying a structural chromosomal abnormality: a qualitative exploration.

Purpose: This study aims to describe the motives and considerations of couples carrying a structural chromosomal abnormality deciding on preimplantation genetic testing (PGT).

Methods: A qualitative exploratory study was conducted using semi-structured dyadic interviews with 13 couples (N = 26) carrying a structural chromosomal abnormality. All couples had an informative consultation in our PGT centre in the Netherlands.

Preserving fertility in young women undergoing chemotherapy for early breast cancer; the Maastricht experience.

Purpose: We assessed the uptake of fertility preservation (FP), recovery of ovarian function (OFR) after chemotherapy, live birth after breast cancer, and breast cancer outcomes in women with early-stage breast cancer.

Methods: Women aged below 41 years and referred to our center for FP counseling between 2008 and 2015 were included. Data on patient and tumor characteristics, ovarian function, cryopreservation (embryo/oocyte) and transfer, live birth, and disease-free survival were collected.

TurnerFertility trial: PROTOCOL for an observational cohort study to describe the efficacy of ovarian tissue cryopreservation for fertility preservation in females with Turner syndrome.

Objective: To investigate the occurrence of live birth in women with Turner syndrome (TS) after ovarian tissue cryopreservation in childhood followed by auto transplantation in adulthood and to find reliable prognostic markers for estimating the ovarian reserve in girls with TS in the future.

Setting: An observational cohort study with long-term follow-up in a tertiary fertility clinic in the Netherlands. Patients recruitment between January 2018 and December 2021.

Counseling young women with early breast cancer on fertility preservation.

Purpose: Women with early-stage breast cancer may still have a future child wish, while chemotherapy may impair fertility. To pursue on fertility preservation shortly after breast cancer diagnosis is complex. This review holds a critical reflection on all topics that need to be counseled to give them the opportunity to make a well-informed decision before starting any oncological treatment.

Cumulative live birth rates in low-prognosis women.

Study Question: Do cumulative live birth rates (CLBRs) over multiple IVF/ICSI cycles confirm the low prognosis in women stratified according to the POSEIDON criteria?

Summary Answer: The CLBR of low-prognosis women is ~56% over 18 months of IVF/ICSI treatment and varies between the POSEIDON groups, which is primarily attributable to the impact of female age.

What Is Known Already: The POSEIDON group recently proposed a new stratification for low-prognosis women in IVF/ICSI treatment, with the aim to define more homogenous populations for clinical trials and stimulate a patient-tailored therapeutic approach. These new criteria combine qualitative and quantitative parameters to create four groups of low-prognosis women with supposedly similar biologic characteristics.

Growth, health, and motor development of 5-year-old children born after preimplantation genetic diagnosis.

Objective: To evaluate the growth, health, and motor development of children born after preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD).

Design: Observational cohort study and comparison of 5-year-old children born after PGD to similar aged children born after IVF/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and children from families with a genetic disorder born after natural conception (NC).

Setting: University hospital.

No effect of IVF culture medium on cognitive development of 9-year-old children.

Study Question: Do embryo culture media used during an IVF/ICSI treatment have an effect on cognitive development of singleton IVF children at 9 years of age?

Summary Answer: Cognitive development of children born after culture in two different embryo culture media is comparable.

What Is Known Already: Previously, we have shown that the culture medium used in an IVF/ICSI treatment affects birthweight and weight at 2 years of age after alternating assignment to embryo culture in either K-SCICM (Cook) or G1™ Version 3 (Vitrolife). Children with low birthweight are known to have an increased risk for learning disabilities.