1. COVID-19 and assisted reproductive technology services: repercussions for patients and proposal for individualized clinical management
- Author
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Sandro C. Esteves, Daniela Galliano, Luigi Carbone, Klaus Bühler, Manish Banker, Claus Yding Andersen, Robert Fischer, Evangelos G. Papanikolaou, Michael Grynberg, Fernando Neuspiller, Lan N. Vuong, Christophe Blockeel, Sesh Kamal Sunkara, Antonio La Marca, Panagiotis Drakopoulos, Alessandro Conforti, Pedro Xavier, Alberto Vaiarelli, Carlo Alviggi, Nikolaos P. Polyzos, Peter Humaidan, Filippo Maria Ubaldi, Ida Strina, Shu Foong, Joaquin Llacer, Matheus Roque, Michael H. Dahan, Raoul Orvieto, Hakan Yarali, Herman Tournaye, Marcos Horton, Fabiola C. Bento, Vriendenkring VUB, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Surgical clinical sciences, Centre for Reproductive Medicine - Gynaecology, Department of Embryology and Genetics, Biology of the Testis, Reproduction and Genetics, Alviggi, C., Esteves, S. C., Orvieto, R., Conforti, A., La Marca, A., Fischer, R., Andersen, C. Y., Buhler, K., Sunkara, S. K., Polyzos, N. P., Strina, I., Carbone, L., Bento, F. C., Galliano, D., Yarali, H., Vuong, L. N., Grynberg, M., Drakopoulos, P., Xavier, P., Llacer, J., Neuspiller, F., Horton, M., Roque, M., Papanikolaou, E., Banker, M., Dahan, M. H., Foong, S., Tournaye, H., Blockeel, C., Vaiarelli, A., Humaidan, P., and Ubaldi, F. M.
- Subjects
LOW PROGNOSIS PATIENTS ,medicine.medical_treatment ,Intracytoplasmic sperm injection ,Endocrinology ,Pregnancy ,In vitro fertilization ,Health care ,lcsh:Reproduction ,Poseidon criteria ,media_common ,Female infertility ,Reproductive Health Services/organization & administration ,Obstetrics and Gynecology ,Assisted reproductive technology ,COVID-19 ,Infertility ,Viewpoint ,Female ,Coronavirus Infections ,Infertility, Female ,Human ,reproductive medicine ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Infertility, Female/therapy ,lcsh:QH471-489 ,Reproductive Techniques, Assisted ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Reproductive Health Service ,Coronaviru ,Pneumonia, Viral ,Reproductive medicine ,Fertility ,Fertilization in Vitro ,lcsh:Gynecology and obstetrics ,Betacoronavirus ,medicine ,Humans ,Sperm Injections, Intracytoplasmic ,Pandemics ,lcsh:RG1-991 ,Betacoronaviru ,Pandemic ,business.industry ,Coronavirus Infection ,SARS-CoV-2 ,medicine.disease ,Coronavirus ,Family medicine ,Commentary ,Reproductive Health Services ,business ,Developmental Biology - Abstract
The prolonged lockdown of health services providing high-complexity fertility treatments –as currently recommended by many reproductive medicine entities– is detrimental for society as a whole, and infertility patients in particular. Globally, approximately 0.3% of all infants born every year are conceived using assisted reproductive technology (ART) treatments. By contrast, the total number of COVID-19 deaths reported so far represents approximately 1.0% of the total deaths expected to occur worldwide over the first three months of the current year. It seems, therefore, that the number of infants expected to be conceived and born –but who will not be so due to the lockdown of infertility services– might be as significant as the total number of deaths attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic. We herein propose remedies that include a prognostic-stratification of more vulnerable infertility cases in order to plan a progressive restart of worldwide fertility treatments. At a time when preventing complications and limiting burdens for national health systems represent relevant issues, our viewpoint might help competent authorities and health care providers to identify patients who should be prioritized for the continuation of fertility care in a safe environment.
- Published
- 2020
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