ART in detail
Within the scope of ART, there are a number of regularly used abbreviations for treatments. The below detailed table should help you to make your way through them:
ART: What the initials mean
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| IVF | In vitro fertilization. Fertilization takes place outside the body, in a glass dish (in vitro means “in glass”), and the fertilized embryo or embryos are placed into the uterus. Helpful for: a woman with damaged Fallopian tubes, or who has severe endometriosis; cases of immune problems; unexplained infertility; and older women who have deteriorating egg production. |
|---|---|
| GIFT | Gamete intra-Fallopian transfer. Sperm and egg are mixed outside the body and immediately transferred into the Fallopian tube so that fertilization can happen “naturally”. GIFT is cheaper than IVF, but can only be used for women with healthy Fallopian tubes. |
| ZIFT | Zygote intra-Fallopian transfer. Like GIFT, except a very young embryo is transferred to the Fallopian tube following IVF. |
| SUZI | Sub-zonal insemination. A type of IVF in which sperm are carefully selected and injected underneath the zona pellucida (the outer layer of the egg). This helps men with low sperm counts. |
| MIST | Micro-insemination sperm transfer. |
| ICSI | Intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection. An amazing technique in which a single sperm is selected, specially treated, and injected directly into the egg itself. When fertilization has taken place by IVF, the embryo is transferred in the usual way. |
| MESA | Micro-epididymal sperm aspiration. The surgical extraction of sperm from the epididymis is needed for men who have no sperm in their ejaculate, because of a blocked vas deferens. It precedes ICSI. |
| TESE | Testicular sperm extraction. This is like MESA, except the sperm are collected from the testes for ICSI. |
Posted 16.11.2010
See more in the dossier: Assisted Reproduction Technology (ART)
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