Preimplantation genetic diagnosis in Saudi Arabia

Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) testing is the practice of obtaining a cellular biopsy sample from a developing humanoocyte or embryo, acquired via a cycle of in vitro fertilization (IVF); evaluating the genetic composition of this sample; and usingthis information to determine which embryos will be optimal for subsequent uterine transfer. PGD has become an increasinglyuseful adjunct to IVF procedures. The ability to provide couples who are known carriers of genetic abnormalities the opportunityto deliver healthy babies has opened a new frontier in reproductive medicine. The purpose of the PGD is enables us to choosewhich embryos will be implanted into the mother. In the present study 137 families who had undergone IVF at Habib MedicalCentre, were enrolled for the PGD analysis. The couple visited the clinic for the sex selection, recurrent fetal loss and with therecurrent IVF failure. 802 embryos were tested by the biopsy method and 512 are found to be normal and 290 were abnormalembryos. In this study only 24% of the embryos were transferred and the remaining was not transferred because of theabnormalities or undesired sex of the embryos. The structural and numerical abnormalities were found to be 16.8%.