ST JUDE CLINICAL UPDATE

2017 is sprinting ahead. All too soon it is April. So far, we are very pleased with significant progress in many areas of our activities especially our excellent clinical pregnancy rates. We are pleased to highlight the following:

1) Excellent clinical Pregnancy rates. The figures will soon be presented in a separate post.

2) Alongside the solid experience and skills of our staff, our newly acquired EMBRYOSCOPE is producing brilliant treatment outcome. We are now able to offer blastocyst embryo culture to most of our patients.

3) We use Embryo Glue for embryo transfer in all patients, unlike some clinics where it is offered as an optional extra at a cost to the patient

4) Our approach to treatment continues to be based on individually tailored protocols. No two couples are the same. Even when the diagnosis is the same in different couples, there are often differences in age, duration of subfertility and individual preferences, so we never adopt a one-cap-fits-all policy.

5) Our lead Consultant is one of the most experienced in assisted conception in the UK and more than ever he is putting his experience to bear for the benefit of patients.

6) We accept and acknowledge the uniqueness of each couple and decide the best treatment protocol from the following:

a) Natural Cycle IVF which has the advantage of being natural, without side effects for drugs. It is also much cheaper.   Although success rate is not as higher as some of the other IVF protocols, it may be the best option for some categories of patients

b) Minimal (Low dose) Stimulation IVF where we use a combination of tablets and low dose injections for ovarian stimulation. The advantage of this method is that there is little risk of side effects or complications from drugs. Pregnancy rate is reasonable and the cost is less than the typical IVF treatment cycle.

c) Elective Embryo freezing and subsequent frozen frozen-thawed Embryo Transfer in a natural or programmed cycle. The rationale for this approach is that in a typical IVF cycle, the high dose of drugs used generate high levels of oestrogen which produces detrimental effects on the endometrium making it unsuitable for implantation. Hence when embryos are frozen from the fresh cycle and implanted in a subsequent cycle the pregnancy rate is much better.

d) Standard IVF cycle whereby higher doses of drugs are used to stimulate the ovaries. This typically produces a high number of eggs. This method is still acceptable and works well in the correct group of patients.

e) Use of Embryoscope for all the above protocols. The embryoscope is a clever high-tech gadget. It is essentially an incubator with an in-built micro-camera which monitors and records embryo development 24/7, therefore the embryos are left to divide and develop undisturbed until the day of embryo transfer. This is akin to what happens in nature within the female reproductive tract and enhances embryo quality. Also because the micro-camera system records embryos development continuously we can review the record to help us select the embryos with the best quality and best implantation potential.

You can see from the above treatment strategies that St Jude’s is committed to helping you achieve your heart’s desire – to Make Your Fertility a Reality.