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Hum. Reprod. Advance Access published online on April 7, 2005
Human Reproduction, doi:10.1093/humrep/dei011
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© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oupjournals.org
Received December 29, 2004
Revised March 1, 2005
Accepted March 8, 2005

Article

The 2004 Italian legislation regulating assisted reproduction technology: a multicentre survey on the results of IVF cycles

G. Ragni 1*, A. Allegra 2, P. Anserini 3, F. Causio 4, A.P. Ferraretti 5, E. Greco 6, R. Palermo 7, E. Somigliana 1, and on behalf of the Società Italiana della Riproduzione (S.I.d.R.) study group on the impact of the law 40/2004 *

1 Infertility Unit, ‘Policlinico-L. Mangiagalli’ Hospital, Milano, Italy
2 Reproductive Medicine Unit, ANDROS Day Surgery, Palermo (Palermo I), Italy
3 Department of Obstetrics-Gynecology, San Martino Hospital, University of Genova, Genova, Italy
4 Centro Medico San Luca, Bari, Italy
5 S.I.S.ME.R., Reproductive Medicine Unit, Bologna, Italy
6 Medicina della Riproduzione Umana, European Hospital, Roma, Italy and
7 A.M.B.R.A., Associazione Medici e Biologi per la Riproduzione Assistita, Palermo (Palermo II), Italy

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
G. Ragni, E-mail: g.ragni{at}icp.mi.it


  Abstract

BACKGROUND: The new Italian law, passed in 2004, regulating assisted reproduction technology imposes that no more than three oocytes can be fertilized at one time and that all embryos obtained must be transferred simultaneously. Oocyte cryopreservation is allowed while embryo cryostorage is banned. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical impact of these limitations. METHODS: Seven Italian infertility centres were invited to collect data on IVF cycles performed over the first 4 months of application of the new legislation. As a control, all centres provided data on cycles performed in the same solar period, 1 year before. RESULTS: Data from 1861 cycles were obtained, 961 in the pre-law period and 900 in the post-law period. Pregnancy rate per oocyte retrieval and rate of multiple pregnancies in the pre- and post-law periods were 27.0 and 24.2% (P=0.18) and 25.8 and 20.9% (P=0.11) respectively. However, the prohibition to freeze embryos does appear to have markedly reduced the cumulative rate of success. CONCLUSIONS: The rate of success of IVF-ICSI cycles using fresh embryos is not significantly influenced by the new legislation while the prohibition to freeze embryos seems to result in a more relevant impact.

Keywords: embryo transfer; IVF; legislation.

* Collaborators in the Società Italiana della Riproduzione (S.I.d.R.) study group on the impact of the law 40/2004 were: I.Caliari and A.E.Nicolosi (Infertility Unit, Regina Elena Hospital, Milano); F.Sammartano and A.Volpes (Reproductive Medicine Unit, ANDROS Day Surgery, Palermo); P.Lanera (Department of Obstetrics-Gynecology, San Martino Hospital, University of Genova, Genova); E.Sarcina (Centro Medico San Luca, Bari); A.D'Angelo and M.Toschi (S.I.S.ME.R., Reproductive Medicine Unit, Bologna); L.Rienzi and F.Ubaldi (Medicina della Riproduzione Umana, European Hospital, Roma); R.Ciriminna, V.Agrifoglio and P.Napoli (A.M.B.R.A., Associazione Medici e Biologi per la Riproduzione Assistita, Palermo).


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