New IVF Research Highlights Improved Genetic Screening Approach To Help Parents Have Healthier Babies

BASKING RIDGE, N.J., Oct. 22, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Reproductive Medicine Associates of New Jersey (RMANJ), a world-renowned leader in the field of infertility, presents new clinical research examining a more rapid approach to embryonic screening. The research abstract, released during the 70^th annual American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii, combines comprehensive chromosome screening (CCS) and single gene defect (SGD) pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD).

Results of this combination approach to genetic screening used DNA obtained by a single biopsy and took only 4 hours to complete compared to the 4 weeks usually required if SGD PGD was performed separately to CCS. This new data is drawn from 17 cases and 150 embryos including autosomal and x-lined, recessive and dominant, and compound and heterozygosity disorders.

"Our patients don't just want to be pregnant. What they really want is to deliver a healthy baby in the shortest time possible. This new data, generated at RMANJ, is just another piece of the puzzle for hopeful parents everywhere," noted Richard T. Scott, Jr., M.D., F.A.C.O.G., H.C.L.D., laboratory director and a founding partner at RMANJ. "By performing CCS and SGD PGD at the same time, we have the opportunity to maintain high delivery rates, bring healthier children into the world, reduce the time needed for screening, and potentially lower the cost of genetic screening," Dr. Scott added.

At the 2014 ASRM meeting, RMANJ will present more than 20 clinical abstracts across a number of critical areas that are changing the future of IVF, including the application of next generation sequencing (NGS) to embryonic aneuploidy screening.

Innovative studies also address the aneuploidy rate in oocytes derived from natural menstrual cycles versus those obtained after gonadotropin stimulation, characterizing the bacterial flora or "microbiome" of the endometrium, analysis of DNA from the blastocelic cavity of embryos, and a paired randomized controlled trial analyzing different methods of extended embryo culture to the blastocyst stage. Other abstracts address time lapse embryonic imaging, reproductive endocrinology, genetic counseling, and DHEA supplementation in IVF. The full list of clinical abstracts can be found at www.rmanj.com

"Our wide scope of research continues to support outstanding results and success rates at RMANJ," commented Dr. Marie Warner, senior Reproductive Endocrinology fellow at RMANJ and Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. "This year's body of work illustrates our ongoing commitment to excellence, which has benefited patients from New Jersey and around the world."

ABOUT REPRODUCTIVE MEDICINE ASSOCIATES OF NEW JERSEY

Reproductive Medicine Associates of New Jersey has pioneered and successfully implemented a cutting-edge technology, known as Comprehensive Chromosome Screening (CCS), to more accurately detect healthy embryos that will lead to successful pregnancies and ultimately healthy babies. Other centers have attempted similar testing methods, but RMANJ is the only fertility center in the world to have developed a system of unprecedented accuracy, fully validated through years of rigorous clinical research.

Comprehensive Chromosome Screening (SelectCCS) is owned and operated by the Foundation for Embryonic Competence (www.faeec.org) and offers advanced embryo selection with extreme accuracy by detecting and avoiding use of embryos with chromosomal abnormalities prior to transfer and pregnancy.

The fertility experts at RMANJ have among the highest IVF success rates in the country. Since 1999, they have helped bring more than 30,000 babies to loving families. In addition to serving as the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, NJ (www.reifellowship.com), the practice has seven locations in New Jersey. For more information please call RMANJ at 973-656-2089, or visit www.rmanj.com.

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SOURCE Reproductive Medicine Associates of New Jersey (RMANJ)

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