Evolution of cumulative live birth and dropout rates over six complete IVF/ICSI cycles: a large prospective cohort study.

Research Question: How do cumulative live birth rates (CLBR), cumulative multiple live birth rates (CMLBR) and dropout rates over six IVF and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycles change over time?

Design: Prospective longitudinal cohort (n = 16,073 patients; 48,946 cycles) starting a first fresh assisted reproductive technology cycle between 1 January 2014 and 31 December 2016, with follow-up until 31 December 2017. Outcomes between the periods 2014-2017 and 2009-2012 were compared.

Results: Conservative estimates of CLBR after six complete cycles were significantly higher in women younger than 35 years after every cycle: one to three, adjusted P-value [p adj] < 0.

How do cumulative live birth rates and cumulative multiple live birth rates over complete courses of assisted reproductive technology treatment per woman compare among registries?

Study Question: How do the national cumulative (multiple) live birth rates over complete assisted reproduction technology (ART) courses of treatment per woman in Belgium compare to those in other registries?

Summary Answer: Cumulative live birth rates (CLBRs) remain high with a low cumulative multiple live birth rate when compared with other registries and publications.

What Is Known Already: In ART, a reduction in the multiple live birth rate could be achieved by reducing the number of embryos transferred. It has been shown that by doing so, live birth rates per cycle were maintained, particularly when the augmentation effect of attached frozen-thawed cycles was considered.

The efficacy of the embryo transfer catheter in IVF and ICSI is operator-dependent: a randomized clinical trial.

Background: Embryo transfer is a crucial step in the IVF process. Most randomized prospective studies comparing transfer catheters have demonstrated significantly higher pregnancy rates with soft versus firm catheters, but none have taken the operator effect into account. Our aim was to perform a prospective randomized clinical trial comparing two catheters and to study interactions between catheters and operators.

Single embryo transfer and multiple pregnancy rate reduction in IVF/ICSI: a 5-year appraisal.

One of the most problematic issues of assisted reproduction is the high incidence of multiple pregnancies, resulting from the transfer of more than one embryo. Particularly at risk are young women who have good quality embryos. The only strategy to reduce the incidence of multiple pregnancies, including twin pregnancies, after assisted reproduction is single embryo transfer (SET).