As seen in “For Your Health”, Scottsdale Airpark News, October 20, 2007

FERTILITY TREATMENT UPDATE
By Daniel F. Rychlik, M.D., F.A.C.O.G., Fertility Treatment Center

For women who dream of having a family one day, recent high-tech medical advancements in fertility treatments will enable them to delay pregnancy and have children according to their own calendar, not their biological clock. Egg freezing is an evolving technology that preserves a woman’s fertility by literally keeping her eggs on ice until she decides to get pregnant. The procedure, which is still being refined, will be beneficial for women who suffer from diseases and medical conditions that may impair their future fertility. Egg freezing also is an option for professional, career-minded women or women without a partner who wish to become mothers down the road.

Young, healthy eggs have a greater chance of being fertilized than older, more mature eggs. As techniques improve, fertility specialists recommend that women who plan to postpone motherhood freeze their eggs while they are in their 20s – their peak reproductive years. The goal is to thaw the eggs for in vitro fertilization (IVF) to achieve pregnancy at a later date.

Egg freezing is not as simple as it sounds. Unlike freezing embryos, which has been widely available for decades, freezing human eggs is difficult. An egg is the largest cell in the body and is filled with water. When an egg is thawed, ice crystals cause damage that will prevent it from being fertilized. Preventing ice crystal formation is critical to freezing and thawing eggs successfully.

The egg-freezing procedure starts with hormone injections, which increase the number of eggs a woman produces. The eggs are then extracted from the woman’s ovary and treated with a protectant to reduce water content and ice crystal formation. Then, the eggs are frozen at significant subzero temperatures and submerged into a tank of liquid nitrogen where they are stored until needed for a future pregnancy when they can be thawed, fertilized and implanted into her womb.

Currently, egg freezing techniques have a low rate of success. However, researchers are making significant progress. Here in the Valley, Fertility Treatment Center (FTC) is playing a significant role in moving egg freezing into the forefront of reproductive medicine. With a unique background in low-temperature physics, FTC’s medical director, H. Randall Craig, M.D., F.A.C.O.G., is working with the Arizona State University (ASU) department of chemistry and biochemistry to devise a more successful method for freezing eggs. The results are promising and clinical trials should begin in 2008.

Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis
In theory, frozen healthy young eggs can last indefinitely in suspended animation. This would avoid the problem of egg deterioration as a woman ages, which increases the possibility of chromosomal disorders such as Down syndrome.

Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), a reproductive technology, offers couples peace of mind by breaking the cycle of inherited genetic defects so they can enjoy the prospect of parenthood without fear of passing on a devastating disease to their offspring. PGD is used to diagnose chromosome disorders in embryos.

Couples who have lost pregnancies due to genetic disorders, who already have a child with a genetic problem or who are carriers of a genetic disorder can use PGD testing to ensure that babies born after the procedure do not carry the genetic disease. Additionally, because they are free from PGD-screened chromosomal disorders, these embryos have a higher chance of resulting in a successful pregnancy.

PGD is performed by removing a single cell from an embryo, which is then analyzed for the presence of genetic disorders. Test results are usually available within 12 to 24 hours. Only unaffected embryos are implanted into the woman’s uterus.

FTC can test embryos for a panel of many genetic abnormalities including:
• Alzheimer’s disease (APP gene)
• Beta-thalassemia
• Cystic fibrosis
• Down syndrome
• Fragile X syndrome
• Gaucher’s disease
• Hemophilia A & B
• Huntington’s disease
• Muscular dystrophy (Duchenne and Becker)
• Sickle cell disease
• Tay-Sachs disease
• Turner syndrome

FTC was the first center in the southwestern United States to report a successful pregnancy following in vitro fertilization (IVF) and PGD screening for genetic disease.

At FTC, all treatment plans are individually designed to optimize a patient’s chances of achieving a successful pregnancy. The scope of services includes intrauterine insemination, fertility medications, and advanced procedures such as in vitro fertilization (IVF), preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) and a donor egg program.

FTC encourages couples to get tested early and discuss their reproductive potential with their physician or a reproductive specialist. Sometimes it’s necessary to lend nature a hand, especially if a woman is over age 34 and desires a family.

FTC has two Valley locations: 14861 N. Scottsdale Road, Suite 115, Scottsdale, and 2155 E. Conference Drive, Suite 115, Tempe, at the Reproductive Medical Institute complex in the ASU Research Park.

Daniel F. Rychlik, M.D., F.A.C.O.G., is the associate medical director at Fertility Treatment Center, an academic medical practice and one of the most comprehensive reproductive treatment facilities in the western United States. He is also a clinical assistant professor at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. Dr. Rychlik was named “Top Infertility Doc” by a leading regional magazine in 2005 and 2006. For more information, call (480) 998-9876 or visit www.fertilitytreatmentcenter.com.