At our facility, we perform embryo examinations for indicated patients before embryo transfer, in cooperation with ART Sanatorium.
The purpose is to reduce the risk of implanting an embryo with an unbalanced chromosomal aberration or with chromosomal aneuploidy (missing or excess chromosome)to avaoid failure of the IVF cycle, the decision to terminate the pregnancy gue to genetic aberration. It can also reveal male embryos that are at high risk of manifesting a disease associated with the gender chromosome X if the mother is a carrier.
The testing is performed using the Array CGH method which is a relatively fast (result in about 24 hours) and effective (all embryo chromosomes can be examined simultaneously).
At IVF Center, the patient undergoes hormonal stimulation, oocyte collection. After in vitro fertilization with the partners’ (or donors’) sperm and 72 hours of incubation, one cell is gently removed from each prospective embryo. These cells are delivered by embryologist to our center under determined conditions. Afterwards the DNA is isolated and tested simultaneously with commercially supplied reference male and female DNA. A subsequent computer analysis compares the DNA profiles of the embryonic and control DNA. The embryological laboratory is informed about the results of the test. The embryos with a significant gain or loss of genetic material are excluded from the rest of the IVF programme. Only genetically (and embryologically) healthy embryos are transferred to the patient or frozen for further IVF cycles.
The most common indications for pre-implantation embryonic testing:
- Couples with a carrier of balanced translocation
- couples with repeated spontaneous or silent miscarriages or a series of failed IVF cycles
- couples with older women (PGS is recommended by SLG ČLS JEP)
- couples where the woman is a carrier of (or suffering from) an X-bound disease (or where the man is suffering from X-bound disease); in this case, preference for embryotransfer is given to female embryos that will be clinically healthy
image: embryo with unbalanced translocation (father is carrier t [7; 8]) and moreover with missing chromosome 13. The embryo was evaluated by an embryologist with a grade 1 after 72h cultivation, meaning it would be transferred without PGD.