The effect of preimplantation genetic screening on the probability of live birth in young women with recurrent implantation failure; a nonrandomized parallel group trial

Abstract: Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of preimplantation genetic screening (PGS) in women younger than 38 years and who had recurrent implantation failure (RIF). Study design: A prospective nonrandomized parallel group study was performed in the assisted reproduction unit of a private tertiary care hospital. 140 infertile couples who had three or more previous failed cycles were included. Genetic counseling was given and couples who opted for another treatment cycle with PGS (n =54) formed the PGS group whereas couples who declined PGS formed the control group (n =86). In the PGS group, following FISH analysis for the detection of chromosomes 13, 16, 18, 21, 22, X and Y, only euploid embryos were transferred on day 5. In the control group embryo transfer was performed on day 3. Clinical pregnancy and live birth rates were compared. 95% confidence intervals for differences between the groups were calculated. Results: Baseline and treatment cycle characteristics were similar in both groups. In the PGS group, a mean number of two embryos were transferred; there were 8 clinical pregnancies (14.8%). The implantation rate was 11.9%. There were no miscarriages and the live birth rate was 14.8%. In the control group, a mean number of 2.7 embryos were transferred resulting in 23 pregnancies (26.7%). The implantation rate was 18.4%. There were 2 miscarriages and the live birth rate was 24.4%. The differences among the groups were not statistically significant. Conclusion: The results suggest that this particular group of young patients with RIF may not benefit from PGS. However, PGS is a multistep procedure that is highly human dependent, and results may vary across laboratories. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]