STRONG PREFERENCE FOR NONINVASIVE PRENATAL-DIAGNOSIS IN WOMEN PREGNANT THROUGH INTRACYTOPLASMIC SPERM INJECTION (ICSI)

Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is a new and most powerful tec hnique to treat severe forms of human infertility.While the follow-up studies have not shown an increased malformation risk so far, the gene tic implications of ICSI are still not fully understood. For this reas on, many institutions routinely recommend or even enforce invasive pre natal tests after successful intracytoplasmic sperm injection. We have counselled 107 women pregnant through ICSI about prenatal diagnosis. Sixty-five had already received genetic counselling prior to the treat ment (group 1), while 42 had not attended our clinic before (group 2). They were free to choose between invasive and non-invasive diagnosis or no prenatal tests at all. Fifty-four per cent of these patients had an indication for prenatal karyotyping or other invasive procedures i ndependent of ICSI. Only 17 per cent of the total cohort made use of a mniocentesis or fetal blood sampling, 82 per cent opted for non-invasi ve tests (ultrasound, serum screening), and one couple did not wish an y prenatal studies. The preference for non-invasive procedures was str onger in group 1 (94 per cent) than in group 2 (65 per cent). We sugge st that if patients pregnant through ICSI have the option to choose fr eely between invasive and non-invasive prenatal tests, they strongly f avour the latter. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.