Jitendar P Vij

B-3, EMCA House, 23/23B Ansari Road, Daryaganj

New Delhi 110 002, India

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© 2008, Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers

All rights reserved. No part of this publication should be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means: electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the editor and the publisher.

First Edition 2008

Typeset at JPBMP typesetting unit

Printed at Ajanta

I would like to acknowledge the brainstorming and encouragement for this project from a brilliant mind from Finland-Candido Tomas.

The monograph entitled Embryo Transfer, edited by Dr Gautam N Allahbadia, is a unique effort, which compiles comprehensive information on a large number of practical points related to this final, yet crucial step of embryo transfer (ET) in the assisted reproductive technology (ART) procedure.

In this new book, we have drawn on our own clinical experience of infertility and have also brought together the work of some of the foremost authorities whose collective passion is improving implantation rates by refining the technique of Embryo Transfer. I assure you that you will examine your own practice in a different perspective after these stimulating opinions from world leaders in the field. I strongly believe that the procedure of embryo transfer is the rate-limiting step in assisted reproduction. Fifteen years of my clinical practice have been focused on improving the embryo transfer technique and in research in the subject. Many women undergoing an assisted reproductive technology (ART) cycle will never achieve a live birth. Failure at the embryo transfer stage may be due to poor embryo quality, lack of uterine receptivity, or the transfer technique itself. Numerous methods, including the use of ultrasound guidance for proper catheter placement in the endometrial cavity, have been suggested as a means of improving the technique of embryo transfer. I strongly believe that the use of ultrasound, and more so, after the introduction of the soft ultrasonic SureView™ catheters, has greatly impacted clinical results the world over. The introduction of ultrasound into the embryo transfer procedure will be regarded as one of the landmarks of ART in the years to come. The old guard still resists acknowledging ultrasound- guided embryo transfers and is clinging onto the ‘Clinical Touch’ method despite mounting evidence in literature to the contrary. This book has very practical information, which translates into the best contemporary practices for the patient needing an embryo transfer.