Do not lose the moon while counting the stars: Conventional IVF versus add-on treatments

[摘要] When we look back at -more than four decades-the history of assisted reproductive treatments (ART), a continuous effort to optimise laboratory conditions and to improve treatment protocols can be seen. In basic terms, the aim of research about culture media and laboratory environments is to create as more physiological condition as possible, which means reducing the gap between the not-fully-known in vivo conditions and their in vitro counterparts. Apart from the modifications of standard protocols and improvements in laboratory variables, additional medications and interventions [the so called in vitro fertilization (IVF) add-ons] have also been proposed, creating excitement among practitioners and miraculous hope for patients. In general, compared with the conceivable investigation steps about the standard procedures, add-on techniques gain very high popularity even though there usually is a lack of robust evidence-based data about their efficiency. Indeed, add-ons are a part of our daily IVF practice and almost all of us use one or more add-ons in our routine. Even though each add on may be a subject of an extended debate, in this brief commentary it was aimed to create an awareness about two key points: overusing the unproven IVF add-ons liberally and ignoring and underusing the more natural and proven conventional IVF (C-IVF) technique.

[学科分类] 兽医学