Human Reproduction, Vol. 14, No. 1, 83-89,
January 1999
© 1999 European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology
Comparison of two elective transfer policies of two embryos to reduce multiple pregnancies without impairing pregnancy rates
Clinic of Fertility, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Hospital Erasme, Route de Lennik 808, 1070 Brussels, Belgium
A first elective transfer policy of two embryos based solely on embryo morphology was compared to a more restrictive policy transferring two embryos to all patients aged <35 years with less than three previous cycles to reduce the incidence of multiple pregnancies. With a significant reduction in the number of triple transfers from 72.4 to 44.3%, the delivery rates were similar for both policies, 31 and 32.1%. However, the multiple pregnancy rates per transfer significantly decreased from 12.5 to 7.8% (P < 0.05). Of 99 pregnancies, only 24.2% were multiple including 1% of triplets compared to 40.7% multiple pregnancies including 6.7% of triplets for the first policy. Forty-eight transfers of two average embryos with the new policy were compared to 264 transfers of three average embryos with the old policy. Multiple pregnancy rates per transfer were significantly reduced by a third from 23 to 8% (P < 0.05) without a reduction of the pregnancy rates (42 and 48%). This study demonstrated that elective transfer of two embryos reduced the number of multiple pregnancies without impairing the pregnancy rates even with the transfer of average embryos.
Key words: double transfer/embryo quality/in-vitro fertilization/multiple pregnancy
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