Janet Ogundepo
Renowned fertility specialist and President of Africa Reproductive Care Society, Professor Oladapo Ashiru, says the improvement in the science and skill of ultrasound scans in the country has increased the success rate of in vitro fertilisation to 75 per cent.
He further explained that at the introduction of IVF in 1978, the success rate was only 10 per cent, stating that improvements in ultrasound scans had enhanced precision, shortened the procedure time, and facilitated accurate embryo placement in the uterus, leading to higher success rates.
Ashiru said this on the sidelines of the 12th Annual Conference of Medical Ultrasound Practitioners of Nigeria in Lagos with the theme, “Standard Obstetrics and Gynaecological Ultrasound Protocol.”
IVF is one of the available assisted reproductive technologies utilised to help persons with fertility problems have a baby.
According to the National Health Service of the United Kingdom, during IVF, “an egg is removed from the woman’s ovaries and fertilised with a sperm in a laboratory. The fertilised egg, called an embryo, is then returned to the woman’s womb to grow and develop.
According to the World Fertility Services, Nigeria has a high success rate of IVF treatment..
Speaking further, Ashiru stated that the ultrasound scan had shortened the waiting time of women who wanted to undergo the procedure from 24 to 48 hours to 30 minutes.
The Secretary-General of the International Federation of Fertility Societies and Foundation President of the African Federation of Fertility Societies, said, “We saw a patient who had been going through in vitro fertilisation with multiple attempts and failing and the patient came to our centre.
“The first thing we did was to do the scan and when we did the scan, because of the skill and the development obtained in our centre, we found out that this lady had adenomyosis of the uterus that was disturbing the way. With adenomyosis, it’s going to be difficult for that woman to get pregnant. So the centre where she’s been attending could not do this because they didn’t do the scan.
“So if you don’t do that and you are transferring the embryo into the uterus blindly, just by measuring, you don’t know where you’re going, what you’re doing. So the ultrasound helps you, first of all, before taking the patient through in vitro fertilisation, to confirm that the uterine cavity is normal.”
He further said, “To confirm that where the embryo is going to be placed, where the baby is going to grow is okay. When that is done, you now go take that woman through in vitro stimulation and get the embryo. It is the ultrasound scan that you will now use to navigate and put the embryo in the right position.
“So that is the skill and that has increased the success rate of IVF as high as 75 per cent. When IVF first started from 1978 to 1980, the success rate in IVF was 10 per cent.”
The President of the Academy of Medicine Specialties of Nigeria further emphasised the importance of ultrasound in medical diagnosis, stating that it helped in the detection of abnormalities and aided proper diagnosis.
He further decried the Japa syndrome which has left the country with fewer skilled personnel to carry out healthcare delivery.
Ashiru advocated more training of specialists and retention of the health workforce to ensure stability in the health sector.
The don urged the ultrasound professionals not to give up and ensure they strive towards giving the right diagnosis.
“We have to persevere. We have to ensure that regardless of the process, the standard of practice is up to date. We have to be trained and retrained in our practice.
“The second thing is that even though the costs are getting higher, because of that, it behooves us that when we are charging such increased prices due to increased affordability, the patients that go through this, we are considerate to them. So when we say that they have this problem, we are sure that it is and we are precise.
“You don’t want to tell somebody that they have a normal pregnancy and they end up with an ectopic pregnancy. So that is why training is important. And lastly, the government needs to help in terms of providing special attention to health care providers,” Ashiru said.
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