Delphi consensus on add-ons and social midia in Assisted Reproductive Technology

This article reports the annals of a national consensus meeting on add-ons and social networks in Assisted Reproduction Techniques (ART). The panel of experts has developed a set of consensus points and this document is intended to be referenced as a national consensus to allow social networks and add-ons to be used in ART, following the standards of the Code of Medical Ethics and the Federal Council of Medicine, in a safe ethical and responsible way.

The impact of Zika virus infection on human semen: a case study

The outbreak of Zika virus (ZIKV) in Brazil and in many countries was marked by the occurrences of fetal malformations and neurological effects upon infection of pregnant women. Like other members of the Flaviviridae family, ZIKV in semen is infectious and sexually transmitted. Viral persistence in the male genital tract is unresolved and still needs further understanding. A regular semen donor was followed from the acute phase of ZIKV infection, up to 8 months after ZIKV in his body fluids became undetected. Immunofluorescence assay was performed in semen samples before and after the infection. A significant decrease in sperm concentration and in the percentage of progressive motility of sperm was observed. The methodology adopted for clearance of sexually transmitted viruses decreased virus load, but the complete clearance of ZIKV from semen was not achieved.

Can ovarian double-stimulation in the same menstrual cycle improve IVF outcomes?

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the double-stimulation protocol efficacy over conventional ovarian stimulation in recovering a more adequate number of oocytes and increase the number of embryos to be transferred or to be genetically analyzed.

METHODS

A retrospective and comparative study with 13 patients who underwent unsuccessful in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles with a conventional antagonist ovarian stimulation protocol and repeat the attempt with a double stimulation protocol. The following variables were analyzed: number of oocytes collected, mature oocytes collected, fertilization rate, blastocyst rate, biopsied blastocyst rate and euploidy rate.

RESULTS

The double stimulation protocol had a significant higher number of oocytes collected (p=0.007) and mature oocytes to be injected (p=0.01). There was no statistically significant difference in fertilization (p=0.78) and blastocyst (p=0.59) rates.

CONCLUSION

Double stimulation favors patients who are at risk of incurring several attempts of IVF to achieve pregnancy.