Assisted reproductive technology in the United States and Canada: 1994 results generated from the American Society for Reproductive Medicine/Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology Registry.

OBJECTIVE

To summarize the procedures and outcomes of assisted reproductive technology (ART) initiated in the United States in 1994.

DESIGN

Data were collected on the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART) Database program and submitted to KMPG Peat Marwick, who served as the 1994 collection center for the American Society for Reproductive Medicine/Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology Registry.

PARTICIPANT(S): Two hundred forty-nine programs submitted data on procedures performed in 1994. Data were collected after October 1995 so that outcome of all pregnancies established would be known.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): The outcomes measured included clinical pregnancy, ectopic pregnancy, abortion, stillbirth, delivery, and congenital abnormality.

RESULT(S): Programs reported initiations of 39,390 cycles of ART treatment, excluding frozen embryo and donor oocyte cycles. Of these, 33,700 cycles initiated were IVF (standard, with micromanipulation, and for host uterus transfer) with 20.7% deliveries per retrieval; 4,214 were cycles of GIFT with 28.4% deliveries per retrieval; 926 were cycles of zygote intrafallopian transfer with 29.1% deliveries per retrieval; and 550 were combination cycles, combining IVF and one of the tubal transfer techniques, resulting in 29.7% deliveries per retrieval. In addition to these cycles initiated in 1994, 7,046 frozen ET procedures were reported, either as separate procedures or in combination with another ART procedure with 15.4% deliveries per procedure, and 3,119 donor oocyte cycles were initiated with an overall success of 46.8% deliveries per retrieval. As a result of all procedures, a total of 9,573 deliveries were reported.

CONCLUSION(S): In 1994, there were fewer programs reporting a similar number of treatment cycles of ART as in 1993. Overall average success rates (deliveries per procedures) exhibited only a small increase compared with previously reported summaries.