Genetic testing and the confused IVF specialist

Genetics plays an important part in reproductive medicine , and it's well known that the commonest reason for failed implantation is a genetic defect in the embryo . This is why it's very tempting to tell patients who have failed an IVF cycle to undergo genetic tests , and this issomething which IVF doctors do all the time . Sadly, most of them are pretty clueless about reproductive genetics , and they order all kinds of unnecessary tests , which they don't know how to interpret . Not only are these tests very expensive , they are completely unhelpful, because they don't really change the patient's treatment options. And because the doctor is confused , he ends up confusing the poor patient even more  !The diagnostic equipment is expensive, and the genetic laboratories are happy to market these tests to IVF specialists, so they can generate revenue for themselves ( which they share with the referring doctor). This is why so many IVF specialists are quite happy to order the "latest" genetic tests for their patients - after all, isn't this the age of "personalised precision medicine" ? This also helps them to demonstrate to the patient that they are doing everything possible !This is why IVF specialists end up ordering a wide range of useless tests , all the way from chromosomal testing ; to sperm DNA fragmentation ; to routine prepregnancy genetic carrier testing  for a host of rare disease.This is why it's so important for patients to read the fine print before sign...
Source: Dr.Malpani's Blog - Category: Reproduction Medicine Source Type: blogs