Overweight, obesity and assisted reproduction: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

As the number of overweight and obese women seeking assisted reproductive care increases, interest in understanding the effects of excess weight on fertility is also increasing. Therefore, a systematic review and meta-analysis were performed to evaluate the associations of overweight and obesity with assisted reproductive technology outcomes. The following databases were searched through March 2019: MEDLINE (PubMed), Embase, Scopus, Lilacs, Web of Science, Clinical Trials and SciELO. The keywords used were obesity, overweight and assisted reproduction, as well as similar terms. Articles were selected based on titles and abstracts. Potentially relevant studies were evaluated for inclusion by two reviewers. Subsequently, quality was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale. The meta-analysis was performed using a random-effects model. Sensitivity analyses were performed to investigate sources of heterogeneity, as recommended by the Cochrane Collaboration. In total, 53 studies with 1,445,406 treatment cycles were included. When analysing one cycle per patient, being overweight or obese was found to have a weak negative impact on clinical pregnancy, livebirth and miscarriage rates; number of mature oocytes; duration of ovarian stimulation; and gonadotropin dosage used among the exposed women. Therefore, an increased body mass index is associated with weak adverse outcomes among women undergoing in-vitro fertilization or intracytoplasmic sperm injection. This study searched a greater number of research databases and analysed a greater number of studies with good methodological quality and low or moderate heterogeneity, including a greater number of assisted reproduction treatment cycles, than other studies conducted to date. Nevertheless, more robust studies on the subject are needed to elucidate other aspects related to exposure and outcomes.

Embryo stage of development is not decisive for reproductive outcomes in frozen-thawed embryo transfer cycles.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate if the outcomes of IVF/ICSI in frozen-thawed embryo transfer and fresh embryo transfer cycles differ in relation to cleavage and blastocyst stages. METHODS: Retrospective cohort study to compare IVF/ICSI outcomes between fresh embryo transfer and frozen-thawed embryo transfer cycles, according to the stage of embryo development. Analysis was carried out on 443 consecutive embryo transfer cycles performed between January 1st and December 31st, 2014. Women aged up to 38 and submitted to embryo transfer cycles with fresh (n = 309) or frozen-thawed (n = 134) embryos at a private center for assistance in human reproduction were considered for analysis. Results in each group were stratified according to the stage of embryo development: cleavage stage and blastocyst stage. Main outcome measures were implantation rate, clinical pregnancy rate, ongoing pregnancy rate and live birth rate per cycle. RESULTS: In the fresh embryo transfer group, for cleavage stage versus blastocyst stage, respectively, implantation rates were 22% and 47% (p = 0.0005); clinical pregnancy rates were 34% and 64% (p = 0.0057); the ongoing pregnancy rates were 30% and 61% (p = 0.0046) and live birth rates were 28% and 55% (p = 0.0148). There were no significant differences in the rates between cleavage and blastocyst stages in the frozen-thawed group, neither between fresh and frozen-thawed cleavage embryo transfers nor between fresh and frozen-thawed blastocyst transfers. CONCLUSION: Our results confirm that blastocyst transfer is better than cleavage stage in fresh embryo transfer cycles. In frozen-thawed cycles, cleavage or blastocyst stages seem to offer similar reproductive outcomes.

Reproductive planning in times of Zika: getting pregnant or delaying plans? The opinion of the Brazilian Society of Assisted Reproduction Committee - a basis for a bioethical discussion.

Although the causality between Zika virus, microcephaly, and other central nervous system disorders has been taken for granted by the scientific community, many uncertainties remain. The gap of knowledge at the moment is large enough to remove part of the confidence physicians have on the advice given to patients - and infertile women in particular - on their reproductive plans. Pretreatment serologic screening is a possible strategy to offer more confidence for individuals choosing to bear children regardless of the Zika virus, but the tests currently available do not seem to be sufficiently adequate. Until now, there is no formal recommendation to avoid pregnancy solely because of the Zika virus outbreak, and the choice of becoming pregnant has been regarded as a personal decision to be made by each woman and her family.

Strategies to preserve the reproductive future of women after cancer.

Malignant and cardiovascular diseases are the main causes of death in Brazil. Estimates for 2013 predict the occurrence of 189,150 new cases of cancer in Brazilian women. With advanced detection tools, patients are diagnosed and treated for cancer at a younger age and are more likely to survive. The cytotoxic action of chemotherapeutic agents and radiotherapy very frequently implies serious damage to the gonads, and consequences due to the hypoestrogenism, such as osteoporosis, infertility and premature ovarian failure, are expected. Oncofertility, then, appears as a new area of reproductive medicine, which is dedicated to the development of strategies for the reduction of therapeutic sequels in cancer survivals, ultimately aiming the maintenance of their quality of life and the possibility of biological maternity. This article aims to present an overview of possible options for female fertility preservation after cancer and future perspectives in oncofertility.