Repeated IVF Failures

One of the most disappointing and frustrating experiences a couple can go through is an IVF failure. An IVF treatment is both an emotional and a financial investment and when it fails, it is not only hard on finances, but it takes a toll on emotions. Even though it is an undesirable outcome, it is something that does happen. However, on the positive side, a negative IVF outcome can possibly give us much more information about a couple’s infertility problems. Standard test results mentioned above will give us a fairly good idea, but observing actual fertilization process in the lab and observing embryo development will give us a lot of insights which won’t be possible to see via standard testing. In a way, we see a failed IVF cycle as a “lesson learned” in terms of how the patient responds to medication, how the eggs fertilize, how the embryos develop and many more parameters.

Patients who have had a number of failed IVF cycles will be asked to undergo additional testing such as “karyotype analysis” so that we can find out about any possible chromosomal problems which might be causing the IVF failures. Chromosome translocations are such problems often observed. A reciprocal translocation between two chromosomes may not exhibit any phenotypical problems on the patient, but may affect his/her reproductive capacity. Besides chromosome analysis, “thrombophilia testing” will also be important. When the female patient has a thrombophilic defect, she experiences blood clotting, which can possibly lead to implantation failures and/or miscarriages.

In some cases, the problem is neither the genetics, nor the embryos- It is the uterine conditions. With some patients, the endometrial thickness does not offer optimal conditions for an embryo transfer. The lining might be too thin or it might not have the right structure. In such cases, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Savas Ozyigit offers a number of solutions including protocols with viagra, neupogen wash and neupogen injections as well as intralipid infusion.

Neupogen is a synthetically derived form of G-CSF (granulocyte colony stimulating factor) which is a chemical messenger which normally exists in the body in certain amounts. and neupogen (filgrastim) is a synthetic (recombinant) form of G-CSF. Healthy and viable embryos have shown to express higher levels of G-CSF compared to poor quality embryos and the same has been found in healthy placenta. This finding has lead researchers and clinicians to conclude that since higher levels of G-CSF is associated with higher quality embryos, higher embryo survival and better pregnancy rates, supplementation of this chemical during pregnancy can influence success rates with patients who have a history of failed IVF cycles.

Several clinical studies with neupogen have shown that supplementatin of neupogen as an endometrial cavity wash and a sub-Q injection has improved endometrial lining thickness during IVF cycles. Similar studies have shown that it was not only the endometrial lining which improved during neupogen use, but also patients with repeated IVF failures have been observed to have a dramatically higher rates of success while on neupogen.

Our own experience with neupogen has also been similar over the past few months that we have started using it, therefore, we do recommend and use it with patients in older age brackets or patients with unexplained IVF failures.

A failed IVF cycle is as important as your test results and previous screening. It tells a lot about what may have gone wrong. Therefore, even though it is a disappointing experience, it could be turned into an advantage by drawing lessons from it. Based on your assessment, our clinical team will offer you modifications on your IVF protocol and will consider the use of some out of the box “Innovations in IVF Treatments“.

Please contact us for more detail on Repeated IVF Failures.