In July 2017, the annual Congress of Reproductologists and Embryologists was held in Geneva, which traditionally gathered more than 10 thousand participants from all over Europe, as well as from the USA, Australia, India, China, Japan and other countries of the world. Among the world’s leading specialists in the field of reproductology were also doctors of the ISIDA clinic: Yulia V. Kremenskaya, biologist, embryologist, molecular geneticist; Alina Nikolaevna Palamarchuk, obstetrician-gynecologist, reproductologist; Svetlana Viktorovna Turbanist, reproductologist.
Yulia Valeryevna Kremenskaya shares her impressions about participating in ESHRE today.
Yulia Valeryevna, what are the goals and objectives of this congress?
ESHRE-2017 is the 33rd congress organized and held annually in different countries of the world by the European Community of Human Reproduction and Embryology. This is a very large-scale event that provides an opportunity to literally get first-hand the latest information about scientific developments in the field of assisted reproductive technologies. And also – in personal communication with world practitioners to discuss those professional problems and issues that are most interesting at the moment.
I would also like to emphasize the importance of the large-scale work of the European Reproduction Community to collect and process information on the effectiveness of various methods of infertility treatment. Each clinic, of course, has its own statistics, which allows you to draw certain conclusions, make adjustments to internal treatment protocols, if necessary. But the data that end up in the hands of specialists of one clinic should be comparable with the data that is obtained as a result of the analysis of information from almost all clinics in the world specializing in the treatment of infertility. This information is collected, processed and voiced by the European Society of Reproduction. And this is very important and necessary.
You said that ESHRE provides information about the latest scientific developments in the field of reproduction. Which of the things announced at the congress seemed to you the most interesting and promising?
For me personally, the reports on the robotization of embryology were very interesting. Working with oocytes and embryos requires a lot of concentration from a specialist, filigree skill. It is clear that with such a level of work intensity, the human factor becomes particularly important. The experience of an embryologist, his well–being, mood, fatigue – all these factors are reset if robotics takes the place of a person. ESHRE has shown what else can be done in this direction. At the ISIDA clinic, we are actively discussing the introduction of such robotic technologies into practice.
For example, information was given about an incubator with a built-in embryo development assessment system. This device even helps to predict the probability of pregnancy. Automatic vitrification of embryos and eggs is another example of robotics in embryology.
Which of the latest techniques and techniques will be implemented in the work of the ISIDA clinic?
I want to emphasize: the scientific and practical level of the ISIDA clinic is very high. And participation in events like ESHRE shows this very clearly. Listening to the reports, communicating with colleagues from different countries, you understand: we are going the right way, we speak with the world’s leading experts in the same professional language, our experience is of no less interest to them than their achievements are to us.
Therefore, it is incorrect to say that everything heard and seen should be immediately implemented into the practice of the ISIDA clinic. First of all, we already have a lot. Secondly, each country, each clinic has its own unique experience (I’m not talking about the fact that each individual case of infertility is unique). And it is always necessary to evaluate and understand how this or that innovation fits into national practice, into the internal treatment protocols adopted in each clinic. Medical processes are very subtle, because we are dealing with life at the very beginning of its emergence. Therefore, haste is inappropriate here.
The ISIDA clinic has adopted a practice: after doctors return from congresses or conferences like ESHRE, they make a presentation for their colleagues with suggestions about possible changes in practical work. If, as a result of collective discussion, we come to the conclusion that changes are necessary and possible, we certainly do them.
I want to emphasize that none of the modern clinics specializing in the treatment of infertility can work without introducing the latest scientific discoveries into their work. Every doctor should be focused, “programmed” to ensure that the patient needs modern approaches to the treatment of his problem for the sake of his health and well–being – more gentle, with a high level of guarantees.** Yes, for the clinic, the introduction of the latest scientific developments into practice is always financially costly. But it pays off with the happiness of the patients.
Kremenskaya Yulia Valeryevna, biologist, embryologist, molecular geneticist – PhD Candidate of Biological Sciences, her international dissertation was defended at the University of Tokyo (Japan). She is the author of a number of scientific publications in rating international journals (PubMed).
Yulia Kremenska worked as a researcher in the world’s leading laboratories (Tokyo University, Japan; Agency of Technology, Science and Research, A*STAR, Singapore); headed the cytogenetic laboratory at the Clinic of Reproductive Technologies (2006-2010) with the introduction of modern methods of preimplantation and prenatal molecular diagnostics into practice.
At the ISIDA clinic, Yulia Valeryevna Kremenska specializes in embryology, molecular biology, cytogenetics; together with reproductologists, she leads patients with severe forms of infertility with a history of chromosomal and genetic abnormalities, as well as with habitual miscarriage and multiple unsuccessful IVF attempts.
