by Dr Agilan Arjunan, Fertility Specialist, KL Fertility Centre ( Malaysia)
IVF treatment , even though undeniably had and is helping many couples to conceive , it is still a rather ‘complicated’ treatment option in the mind of a patient. It is because IVF treatment involves taking medications in the form of injections which need to be taken daily with the correct dosage. The medications are intended to grow more eggs in a woman’s ovaries. Naturally a woman makes only one egg per menstrual cycle.
For any fertility doctor, the most dreaded complication of IVF is OHSS ( Ovarian HyperStimulation Syndrome). This happens because the many eggs that are growing releases chemical substances which can make a woman unwell. Some studies had blamed the ‘triggger’ medication used to mature the eggs prior to egg collection. The commonly used medication is hCG (human chorionic gonadotrophin). Hence new drugs has been developed to do this ‘triggering’ job. One such drug that been around for some time is called GnRH agonist.
Recently, researchers had found another candidate to fill the post of a ‘trigger’. This new candidate is a hormone called kisspeptin. Researchers had given differing dosages to trigger the maturation of the eggs prior to egg collection. The end results was excellent. There were no OHSS and what is more interesting is that the pregnancy rates are higher than a conventional IVF ! However, more larger studies are required to confirm these exciting findings.
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