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Noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT)

Noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT)

Noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT) is an effective method of determining the risk that the fetus will be born with certain genetic abnormalities.

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NIPT helps to learn a lot about the baby during the first trimester. This is the most progressive way to diagnose chromosomal disorders and other abnormalities, utilized in all developed countries in the world.

The testing analyzes small fragments of DNA that are circulating in a pregnant woman’s blood.

The testing is recommended when:

The woman is older than 35 years old;
Possible genetic abnormalities suspicions after the ultrasound;
The pregnancy achieved with the use of IVF or other VRT
The risk of genetic abnormalities detected during the biochemical screening;
Genetic abnormalities detected in other children’s DNA;
A history of stillbirth;
Premature labor or recurrent miscarriage;
Unexplained infertility.

The key advantages of NIPT include its high accuracy and safety. The possibility of diagnostic mistake is only 0.01%.

For this testing, the mother’s venous blood is used. The blood taking procedure is completely safe for both the baby, and the mother.

One more advantage is that the testing can be performed very early in the pregnancy – in the 9th week.

Diagnostic capabilities of the testing

The testing can detect the following diseases and abnormalities:

Down syndrome;
Edwards syndrome;
Patau syndrome;
Turner syndrome;
Klinefelter syndrome;
Triple X syndrome;
Double Y syndrome.

While analyzing the fetus’ DNA, it is possible to identify its sex.

Even though NIPT is a high-accuracy method of diagnosis, it is, nevertheless, a screening test. Which means that should any abnormalities be detected during the testing, they still must be confirmed by an invasive test, such as fetal karyotyping.

The testing is not performed:

Earlier then the 9th week of pregnancy;
If selective (multifetal) reduction has been performed;
In cases of multifetal pregnancies with three or more fetuses;
When the baby is carried by a surrogate mother;
When the pregnancy is achieved by means of IVF with the use of donor oocytes.

If you would like to get more information about this method of diagnosis, please, contact the clinic by phone or via the online inquiry form.

Medical team

Sergey Yakovenko

CEO, embryologist, PhD, Associate Professor at Moscow State University, Department of Biophysics.

Sona Nshanyan

Reproductive Endocrinologist, Gynecologist, PHD

Ekaterina Utisheva

Reproductive Endocrinologist, Gynecologist, MD

Vladimir Litvinov

Reproductive Endocrinologist, Gynecologist, MD, PHD

Popular IVF programs

IVF: minimal stimulation protocol

Included services

IVF with anonymous donor

Included services

Basic IVF

Included services

IVF with vitrified oocytes

Included services

Frozen embryo transfer

Included services

Frozen embryo transfer is considerably less complicated than the classic IVF program. It consists of three stages: getting the endometrium ready, transferring the embryos and maintaining the luteal phase.

Frozen embryo transfer is one of ART techniques.

Basically, it is an in-vitro fertilization program minus the stimulation stage. This technique is advisable when the IVF protocol for some reason was unsuccessful. By preserving the embryos, the parents receive a kind of moral support boost, because even if the first try fails, there is always a second chance. Besides, it will be easier and a lot cheaper.

Many couples choose to tray frozen embryo transfer program after a successful IVF attempt to have a second baby.

The end result of this technique depends on various factors which include:

The quality of the frozen embryo
The endometrial thickness and if it is ready for the embryo transfer
The hormonal therapy strategy.

Some scientists claim that the high dosage of hormones that women are injected with during the stimulation can alter the qualities of their endometrium and may have negative effect on its ability to accept and nourish the embryo.

If the patients use the frozen embryo transfer program, there is no need to do take hormones in such high doses, which makes this program closer to the natural way of things. Consequently, the pregnancy is likely to go more smoothly from the physiological point of view.

Is it necessary for the father to do a medical check-up with this protocol? Yes, it is. Even though he is not actually involved in the process of the transfer and has done the required tests during the first cycle, the frozen embryo transfer recommendations list does contain several obligatory examinations. As for the mother, out of all the usual hormone level exams she only has to do the progesterone blood test, because this hormone is prescribed to ensure a healthy pregnancy.

Sometimes, though fairly rarely, the usual superovulation stimulation protocol is still required to prepare the endometrium for the transfer. This happens when there is no natural ovulation and if the standard preparatory procedures yielded no results.
Regardless of their education level, many people still consider embryo cryopreservation a dangerous procedure that has the potential to harm their future baby. Sometimes, it may be hard for the parents to understand this process. These couples would rather dispose of their spare embryos, which is completely unnecessary and unfounded, just because they are afraid to freeze it.

However, it is essential to realize the difference between a common freezing and cryopreservation. When you freeze something the usual way, the water in the issues crystalizes under the influence of low temperatures and destroys the cell membranes. Cryopreservation in liquid nitrogen happens at the ultra-low temperature of -196 С°. Under these conditions, the ice simply does not have enough time to form. After they are defrosted, more than a half of all embryos can be successfully implanted into the womb tissue and start developing there. Out of 100 frozen embryos, only 5 or 6 of them are lost. Studies have proved that in those cases the cause of death is not related to cryopreservation, but is normally of genetic origin. Large-scale case studies have also demonstrated, that children born from frozen embryos are not any different from other children in terms of general health and course of development, and the pregnancy is usually less problematic. It might be connected to lower amount emotional stress for the parents.

Frozen embryos can be preserved for a very long time. An additional prove to that is the birth of a girl named Emma in 2017. Her embryo has been cryopreserved for 25 years, since 1992. The only condition is to strictly abide by the rules of cryopreservation and defrosting procedures.

In Altravita we use various ART techniques. Thanks to high-level equipment and the skills of our doctors, we keep our statistic results up to the highest standards. You can get more information about cryopreservation from our gynecologists. Call the clinic using the phone number on our website and make an appointment.

Call the clinic using the phone number on our website and make an appointment.

Natural Cycle IVF

Included services

What is IVF in natural cycle? IVF in natural cycle uses ultrasound monitoring of growth of the dominant follicle in the ovary of the patients with preserved ovulation.

With a follicle size of 18 mm, either under the control of an ovulation test, or after the intramuscular injection of an ovulation trigger, a follicle is punctured to obtain an egg. The rest of the IVF program process remains the same.

To increase the effectiveness of IVF, the program includes the study of egg’s spindle apparatus.

IVF in the natural cycle: pros and cons

The reason for the low demand for IVF in the natural menstrual cycle is that it is characterized by a fairly low efficiency. The pregnancy rate is lower than with insemination in the natural cycle, it is about 7% in terms of each started cycle.
This is due to the fact that not every mature follicle is an egg carrier. In addition, because of the puncture, only one egg is extracted, which may not be able to fertilize. Also, when using this method, there is a risk of canceling the oocyte collection procedure due to premature ovulation.

The advantage of this method is to minimize the risk of complications such as ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome.

The undoubted advantages of the IVF method in the natural cycle include the possibility of carrying out the procedure for several menstrual cycles in a row. However, note that a single puncture of stimulated ovaries will do less harm than multiple.
Another advantage of IVF in natural cycle is that comapered to other programs its cost is usually lower than in programs where superovulation stimulation is performed.

Also, unlike in other programs, no special preparation for IVF in the natural cycle is not required.

The package includes (depending on the Doctor’s prescription)

Prescribing natural cycle treatment plan;
Consultation with Infertility doctor (up to 3 times);
Follicle ultrasound (up to 3 times);
Hormone level tests for monitoring ovarian stimulation (LH, estradiol, progesterone express-tests – up to 3 times)
One of the following medications:
Diphereline (0.1)
Chorionic gonadotropin (up to 10.000)
Ovarian puncture in natural cycle
Staying in a hospital ward for 3 hours for monitoring purposes
Embryological stage:
Oocyte identification and assessment;
2 sperm specimen preparation for fertilization;
In vitro fertilization: ICSI;
Embryo culture;
Oocyte spindle apparatus assessment.

The package does not include

Medications that are not listed in the program description;
Medical assistance in case of emergency conditions;
IMSI;
Assisted hatching;
Embryo biopsy;
All kinds of preimplantation genetic diagnosis;
Embryo storage;
All consultations with related specialists;
The use of donor material and its defrosting.

IVM procedure

IVM means in vitro egg maturation (in vitro) followed by IVF. The specialists of AltraVita clinic have sufficient capabilities and knowledge to conduct this process with high efficiency, as evidenced by reviews of IVF in natural cycle.Th

e combination of IVM and IVF methods makes it possible to simultaneously obtain a mature egg from a dominant follicle and a number of immature eggs from small (antral) follicles. Egg maturation takes place “in vitro”, and a mature egg undergoes fertilization in the standard way. High-quality embryos obtained by both methods are transferred into the uterus.

Indications for IVF in the natural cycle in conjunction with IVM

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
Significant risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome
A history of benign hormone-dependent tumors
Contraindications to the induction of superovulation
Factors Affecting IVM Choice
The ability to avoid the risk of developing ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome
Lack of hormonal stimulation
Affordable cost of the procedure, which is caused by a small amount of hormonal drugs used

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Reviews

Oksana

Thank you so much, Dr. Vladimir Valentinovich, you are both a wonderful person and an exceptional specialist!!! Thanks to your treatment and unique approach, on April 10 we had our precious little girl. You always knew exactly what to say to cheer us up. Despite all the failures, you never lost hope and kept coming up with new treatment plans until at the long last we finally succeeded. I thank you…

2019-10-15 Read more

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Catherine

I am ever so grateful to Dr. Asharina, who managed to give me hope in one day becoming a mother again. After a miscarriage and severe complications, all other doctors would only shrug, telling me to try harder and keep waiting. Dr. Asharina, on the other hand, figured out the problem during the very first visit and prescribed a suitable treatment. Now, we are hoping for positive results.

2019-10-03 Read more

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Ruslana

I’d like to thank the Altravita management for employing such an amazing doctor as Saida A. Magomedova. She is indeed an outstanding specialist in her field. Dr. Magomedova is calm, patient, polite and, more importantly, very experienced! Even though she doesn’t have that many years of experience, she is highly knowledgeable. Thanks to her skills, me and my husband became parents! Thank you, Saida…

2019-09-17 Read more

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Anna

Dr. Zarema Beckkhanovna, there’s so many thoughts in my head, but it’s still not enough to express how grateful we are to you. Thank you for our son, please, except our deepest and most sincere gratitude. Thank you for your smiles, encouraging words, and warm hugs before the transfer. Thank you for when the test results came in and you told us: “We are going”. And so we went. We have come a long…

2019-09-12 Read more

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Igor

I first went to see Elena Alexandrovna in June. My spermogram was bad. The doctor said that was because of my hormones level and prescribed a treatment plan. After a month, we could already see positive changes. Although it’s still not perfect, I’m hoping for further improvements. The medicine is expensive, but it really works. It’s obvious that the Doctor knows what she is doing. They do tests and…

2019-09-11 Read more

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Noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT)

Diagnostic capabilities of the testing

Included services

Excluded services

Included services

Excluded services

Included services

Excluded services

Included services

Excluded services

Frozen embryo transfer is one of ART techniques.

IVF in the natural cycle: pros and cons

The package includes (depending on the Doctor’s prescription)

The package does not include

IVM procedure

Indications for IVF in the natural cycle in conjunction with IVM