Hearns-Stokes R M, Miller B T, Scott L, Creuss D, Chakraborty P K, Segars J H
Walter Reed Army Medical Center and National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Washington, DC, USA.
Fertil Steril. 2000 Jul;74(1):80-6. doi: 10.1016/s0015-0282(00)00582-3.
To evaluate the effect of individual providers on pregnancy outcome after embryo transfer.
Retrospective data analysis.
University-based tertiary-care assisted reproductive technology program with 10 physician-providers.
PATIENT(S): Six hundred and seventeen women who underwent 854 fresh embryo transfers between January 1996 and January 1999.
INTERVENTION(S): Pregnancies after embryo transfer were recorded for each provider.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Establishment of a clinical pregnancy.
RESULT(S): Three hundred ninety-three clinical pregnancies resulted from 854 embryo transfers, for an overall clinical pregnancy rate of 46.0% per embryo transfer. Three hundred forty-seven (40.6%) pregnancies were ongoing. The clinical pregnancy rate varied significantly between providers: for example, 17.0% (47 transfers) vs. 54.3% (57 transfers) (P<.05). Similarly, the ratio of high-grade embryos required to produce a gestational sac differed between providers. The number or quality of embryos transferred did not differ significantly.
CONCLUSION(S): Significant differences were observed in pregnancy rates after embryo transfer done by different providers, suggesting that embryo transfer technique may influence pregnancy outcome in assisted reproductive technology.
