IVF gives good results in habitual abortion.
What is habitual abortion? You get pregnant, but the pregnancy stops and ends with a miscarriage. If this happens three or more times in a row without succeeding in having children, this condition is called habitual abortion. This is very frustrating. So you get pregnant, and hope is ignited, but then it all ends with SA (spontaneous abortion) or MA (more about missed abortion in a later post J)
What is the reason for this? It has previously been claimed that this is almost always due to chromosomal defects in the embryo. Today we know that many of these abortions are due to errors in the implantation process. That there is something wrong with the embryo's ability to attach and develop, or that the lining of the uterine cavity does not show optimal conditions for. This is due to defects with/or lack of protein expression on the part of the embryo or mucous membrane.
Many other conditions can also affect the embryo's ability to attach. Especially immune diseases as these give a general inflammatory reaction in the body that affects protein expression in the lining of the uterus. Adverse hormonal conditions can also have a negative effect.
But abortion can, of course, also be due to the embryo being chromosomally incorrect! Chromosome defects are unfortunately not a rare phenomenon and are increasing with age. This is mainly due to errors in cell division, but can also be due to primary rare chromosomal conditions in the parents. One, therefore always examines the parents for these.
Why IVF? Because an IVF trial optimizes all the processes involved, including the conditions around the implantation itself. In addition, we have several eggs to choose from when doing IVF.
Embryoscope is the latest innovation in IVF. Here you can film the embryo development. This provides lots of information about the quality (normality) of the embryo. When cell division takes place, the time this takes and also the synchronization of these, gives us a timeline. This ensures us a better selection of the embryo to be returned to the uterine cavity (greater chance that the embryo is normal)
When you do IVF, you know when the embryo is returned and when the implantation will take place. Therefore, more targeted measures can be taken to improve the processes around the attachment.
Patients with habitual abortions are often told just to try again and hope for the best because all examinations and blood tests have shown normal findings!
This, I would argue, is bad advice for this patient group. There is always a cause when an abortion occurs. It is not accidental. There is often something wrong with the implantation. IVF gives very good results in this group and should be recommended. We here at Klinikk Hausken have helped many.
Specialist in gynaecology and obstetrics.
