In July 2017, the 33rd annual Congress of Reproductologists and Embryologists ESHRE was held in Geneva, which was attended by more than 10 thousand reproductologists and embryologists 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 were the doctors of the ISIDA clinic: Yulia V. Kremenskaya, biologist, embryologist, molecular geneticist; Alina Nikolaevna Palamarchuk, obstetrician-gynecologist, reproductologist; Svetlana Viktorovna Turbanist, reproductologist.
Turbanist Svetlana Viktorovna, a reproductive doctor, tells about how the work of the ESHRE Congress took place.
Svetlana Viktorovna, what are the goals of the ESHRE Congress?
The ESHRE Congress is held annually, usually in one of the European countries. But the participants of this Congress are scientists and practitioners not only from Europe, but also from the USA, Australia, India, China, Japan and other countries and continents of the world. The ESHRE Congress is a unique and long–awaited opportunity for many of its participants to compare their personal discoveries and achievements with the discoveries of colleagues from other countries of the world.
Reproductologists and embryologists from all over the world have one task – to overcome infertility, to promote the birth of healthy children. But each clinic specializing in the treatment of infertility may have its own nuances in its work, its own results. **To compare them, combine, analyze and come to a common opinion that will help to realize a common goal for all – this is the “task-maximum” of events like the ESHRE Congress.**
In addition, each of the congress participants has his own professional question, with which the specialist goes to such events and the answer to which he usually takes to his native clinic.
What professional question did you personally come to ESHRE with?
Personally, I am very interested in how other clinics solve the problem of the risk of ovarian hyperstimulation in ART programs; everything related to embryo cryopreservation, as well as infertility treatment in general, is very important. All this is our daily work, the results of which are very important to compare with the results of colleagues from other countries.
The congress also raised a very promising topic about the first successful attempts to transfer pronuclei. Perhaps this is the future of reproduction.
Please explain what it is about.
Pronuclear transfer of nuclei is the fertilization of a woman’s egg by a man’s sperm, followed by the transfer of pronuclei to a donor egg. This is what is called “a child from three parents.” This technique may be the only chance for age-related patients: in such cases, a fertilized egg from an “age-related” patient may not have enough energy to successfully implant into the lining of the uterine cavity and begin to develop, getting everything necessary for this from the mother’s body. The transfer of pronuclei to a younger and therefore more viable donor egg can be a solution to this problem. However, when using this technique, both medical and ethical issues arise. As I have already said, this will be a child “from three parents”, because egg donors are also involved in the genetic set of this embryo, since the mitochondria of the donor egg also contain DNA.
Is this technique one of the newest in the world of reproductive medicine?
Yes, the results of the first successful attempts of pronuclear nuclear transfer were announced at the ESHRE Congress. And so far it is unclear what the child’s gene pool may be, how great is the risk of inheriting any diseases. **In fact, at the ESHRE Congress, in connection with pronuclear transfer, the issue of getting pregnant at any cost was discussed. And there is no certainty that this is worth doing yet.** The first scientific experiments are underway now, and it is important for us to understand whether it is worth being included in the number of clinics participating in these developments. The level of our work, the level of specialists allow us to do this. But both for the introduction of new techniques into practice and for the rejection of this, facts and clear arguments are needed. You can get them during a comprehensive, one might say, international discussion at events like the ESHRE Congress.
By the way, it was very nice to feel once again that, posing as an employee of the ISIDA clinic, you automatically get into the number of specialists with whom even the most famous reproductologists of the world conduct a dialogue on equal terms, with respect for professionalism and real results. It’s very nice!
Turbanist Svetlana Viktorovna – a reproductologist of the highest category in obstetrics and gynecology, specializes in medical genetics, treatment of complex forms of infertility, a full range of assisted reproductive technologies, carrying problematic pregnancies, ultrasound.
Svetlana Viktorovna annually participates in the congresses of the UARM, ESHRE and ASRM; is the author and co-author of 15 scientific articles; a member of the Presidium of the Ukrainian Association of Reproductive Medicine (UARM), a member of the European Association of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE), the American Association of Reproductive Medicine.
