World report on fertility treatments reveals high use of intracytoplasmic sperm injection
The editor-in-chief of one of the world’s leading reproductive medicine journals has attacked the rising use of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) for the treatment of infertility, following publication of the latest world report on assisted reproductive technologies (ART) [1] today (Saturday).
The report in Human Reproduction shows that while ICSI use has levelled off in some regions, its use is approaching 100% of assisted reproduction cycles in the Middle East and a few countries in other regions, despite the fact that ICSI was developed for the treatment of male infertility, which is a factor in around 40% of couples seeking fertility treatment [2]. The world report covers the years 2008, 2009 and 2010 — the years for which the most recent data are available.
In an editorial entitled „Santa Claus in the fertility clinic“ [3], to accompany the world report by the International Committee for Monitoring Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ICMART), Professor Hans Evers highlights the fact that in 2010 there were 220,000 in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatments, but there were more than 455,000 ICSI treatments in the world. There was 1.4 times as much ICSI than IVF in Asia, twice as much in sub-Saharan Africa, just over twice as much in Europe, 2.7 times as much in North America, more than six times as much in Latin America and more than 60 times as much in the Middle East.
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