Good Clinical Treatment in Assisted Reproduction - An ESHRE ...

4. Women with hyperprolactinaemia should be offered treatment with dopamine agonists such asbromocriptine or carbegoline after checking for thyroid function and correcting any anomalies.INTRAUTERINE INSEMINATION (IUI)Although IUI represents a “mild” ART procedure, it must be performed with care, according to strict criteria.Tubal patency as well as semen quality must be checked prior to performing IUI.There is general agreement in the literature that chances of success are better after mild ovarian stimulation andthe maturation of a maximum of two or three follicles. However, the cycle must be monitored by ultrasound andhormonal analysis; if there are more than three mature follicles, the attempt should be cancelled. While theconcurrent use of ovarian stimulation may increase pregnancy rates, it may be at the expense of a high chanceof multiple pregnancy.The majority of pregnancies occur during the first six cycles. In any case, the number of attempts should notexceed nine cycles. When assessing the duration of an IUI programme, the age of the woman must be taken intoaccount, to ensure timely transfer to more complex treatments if indicated.IN VITRO FERTILISATION (IVF)Bilateral lack of tubal permeability represents an absolute indication for performing IVF. Other indicationsinclude doubtful tubal patency, endometriosis, moderate alterations of semen characteristics, unexplainedinfertility or failure of several previous cycles of ovulation induction or IUI. IVF must be offered as a first‐linetreatment in women of advanced maternal age, irrespective of the cause of infertility. Conventional IVF shouldnot be proposed in the presence of severe sperm abnormalities, or after several fertilisation failures in previousattempts.INTRACYTOPLASMIC SPERM INJECTIONS (ICSI)ICSI should be considered in the presence of severe sperm abnormalities or a history of fertilisation failure inconventional IVF attempts. It must be emphasised that ICSI does not represent the most suitable treatment forfemale pathologies such as poor ovarian response or previous implantation failures.CRYOPRESERVATIONGiven that excess embryos are usually obtained during IVF/ICSI treatments, the cryopreservation of embryosshould be routinely available as an integral part of infertility services. The establishment of a successfulcryopreservation programme will increase cumulative live birth rates and also make single embryo transfer anincreasingly efficient option. With a higher number of elective single embryo transfer cycles, more good qualityembryos are available for cryopreservation. Cryopreservation not only makes these embryos available for futureuse by the couple, but may also be useful in avoiding the risks of ovarian hyperstimulation.MULTIPLE PREGNANCIESThe most common complication of ART is multiple pregnancy. Maternal morbidity and mortality in multiplepregnancies are significantly increased when compared to singleton pregnancies. Twins are associated withhigher rates of perinatal complications. The risk of neurological problems in newborns, cerebral palsy included, ishigher than in singletons. Twin pregnancies are increasingly accepted as a serious complication of ART for thecouple, the newborn and society.The decline in the number of multiple births can be regulated only with a reduction of the number of embryostransferred. This restrictive embryo transfer policy could be accepted as the only means of eliminating highorder multiple gestations. Although the transfer of two embryos has prevented triplet pregnancy, twinpregnancies still account for more than ~25% of deliveries after two early stage embryos are transferred or morethan ~35% when two blastocysts are transferred.