Highlights from ASRM's 80th annual meeting (2024)

Highlights from ASRM’s 80th annual meeting (2024)

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This post provides a short summary of select news releases/studies from the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) 2024 meeting. Some of the highlights include new research on GLP-1 drugs and IVF, progestin therapy and endometriosis, the limitations of PGT-A, calcium ionophore and more!

Note that these studies may not have been published or peer reviewed yet. I’ll also note that I didn’t attend the conference, and this is all material I’ve gathered online.

⚠️ Remembryo summarizes and interprets IVF research for educational purposes. Posts highlight selected findings and may simplify or omit study details, including methods, analyses, author interpretations, limitations, and protocol specifics (such as timing, dosing, or eligibility criteria). These summaries are not a substitute for the original study. Always review the full publication before treatment decisions.

🔗 Original studies are referenced in this post or within the linked Remembryo posts.

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Selected news releases

These are stories that were picked up by the media that covered presentations during the conference.

GLP-1 Drugs Reduce Uterine Fibroids Risk in Diabetics. GLP-1 receptor agonists, like Wegovy or Ozempic, were found to significantly lower the risk of developing uterine fibroids in women with type 2 diabetes compared to metformin and insulin. Check out the full story on MedPage Today.

Ploidy Abnormalities Detected in Normally Fertilized Embryos. Researchers found that 1.15% of blastocyst-stage embryos showed ploidy abnormalities, such as triploidy or haploidy, detected through PGT-A analysis of nearly 100,000 embryos. The embryos were normally fertilized (2PN), with maternal age being linked to triploidy. Check out the full story on MedPage Today.

Concerns Raised Over Treatment Before IVF in Endometriosis Patients. A clinical trial showed that prolonged (3 month) endometriosis treatments dienogest (Visanne) or triptorelin (Trelstar) reduced live birth rates by about half in women with advanced endometriosis undergoing IVF compared to no treatment. Experts pointed out that the study’s small size limits its generalizability, but the findings could result in potential discontinuation of this treatment approach. Check out the full story on MedPage Today.

Weight Loss Drugs Show No Impact on Oocyte Retrieval Rates. A small study found that using GLP-1 agonists, like Wegovy or Ozempic, within a year of ovarian stimulation had no significant effect on the number of eggs retrieved. Despite the absence of effects in the general population, a subgroup analysis showed that GLP-1 agonists improved egg yields in obese patients. Check out the full story on MedPage Today.

Single Embryo Transfer Guidelines Reduce Multiple Births, Maintain Live Birth Rates. Updated ASRM guidelines in 2017 recommending single embryo transfer in most IVF cases reduced the multiple birth rate from 15.4% to 7.1%, without affecting the cumulative live birth rate. This change underscores the importance of cautious embryo transfer policies in improving safety outcomes in IVF. Check out the full story on MedPage Today.

Selected abstracts

These are interesting abstracts I found from ASRM’s list of about 1000 that were presented orally or as a poster during the conference. I’ll include the title of the abstract and some supporting information. The complete list can be found here.

EMBRYONIC DE NOVO COPY NUMBER VARIANTS IDENTIFIED IN EUPLOID PREGNANCY LOSSES. Current PGT-A DNA sequencing using NGS has a resolution of about 5-10 megabases. This study found that about 25% of euploid embryos that resulted in pregnancy loss had genetic variations that were too small to be detected by NGS.

COST-EFFECTIVENESS ANALYSIS OF PREIMPLANTATION GENETIC TESTING FOR ANEUPLOIDY (PGT-A) IN GOOD PROGNOSIS PATIENTS. A cost-analysis of PGT-A in good prognosis patients found that PGT-A was most effective for patients 35 and older.

COST EFFECTIVE ANALYSIS OF PGT-A IN IVF CYCLES AMONG PATIENTS AGE 38-40 YEARS OLD. A more focused cost-analysis on PGT-A patients aged 38-40 found that PGT-A saved an average for $7000 per live birth.

PERFORMANCE OF TWO PGT PLATFORMS UTILIZED WITHIN A SINGLE ASSISTED REPRODUCTIVE CENTER. A clinic switched PGT labs from one using NGS to one using a SNP array. They found that the SNP PGT lab showed higher euploidy rates. Although euploid by SNP array had a higher pregnancy rate compared to NGS, it wasn’t statistically significant.

EVALUATING THE IMPACT OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND STRESS ON FROZEN EMBRYO TRANSFER CYCLE OUTCOMES: THE STEP AND STRESS TRACKING TO ESTIMATE PREGNANCY (SSTEP) TRIAL. Physical activity, stress, sexual activity and sleep patterns didn’t affect pregnancy outcomes.

EXPLORING THE LINK BETWEEN OVARIAN RESERVE AND EMBRYO QUALITY: INSIGHTS FROM A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF PGT-A CYCLES. Low AMH (<1.2 ng/ml) or low AFC (<5) wasn’t related to embryo quality of euploid rates.

IMPACT OF IMPORTING CRYOPRESERVED EMBRYOS ON FET OUTCOMES. This study found no differences in outcomes for transferred embryos that were or weren’t transported to the clinic.

CLINICAL OUTCOMES OF SINGLE MOSAIC EMBRYO TRANSFER IN TERMS OF TYPES AND LEVELS OF MOSAICISM. This study transferred 161 mosaics, finding no difference in pregnancy rates for low vs high level segmental mosaics (52.2% vs 72.7%) and for low segmental or high segmental vs low whole chromosome mosaics (52.2% or 72.7% vs 54.7%). High whole chromosome mosaics had a lower pregnancy rate (17.6%).

PATIENTS WITH POOR BLASTOCYST FORMATION RATES IN AN INITIAL CYCLE HAVE IMPROVED OUTCOMES IN SUBSEQUENT CYCLES WITH OR WITHOUT USE OF CALCIUM IONOPHORE ACTIVATION POST-ICSI. Patients with <25% blastocyst formation were offered calcium ionophore activation. There was no difference in fertilization, blastocyst formation or euploidy rates, except in patients older than 42 who had a higher blastocyst formation rate.

EFFECTIVENESS OF AUTOLOGOUS PLATELET-RICH PLASMA (PRP) THERAPY FOR IMPROVING ENDOMETRIAL THICKNESS AND PREGNANCY OUTCOMES IN WOMEN WITH THIN ENDOMETRIUM : A RANDOMISED CONTROLLED TRIAL. This RCT found that average endometrial thickness increased in patients with a history of a thin endometrium after intrauterine platelet-rich plasma administration. There was also an increase in clinical pregnancy rate with PRP.

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About Embryoman

Embryoman (Sean Lauber) is a former embryologist and the founder of Remembryo, an IVF research and fertility education website. After working in an IVF lab in the US, he returned to Canada and now focuses on making fertility research more accessible. He holds a Master’s in Immunology and launched Remembryo in 2018 to help patients and professionals make sense of IVF research. Sean shares weekly study updates on Facebook, Instagram, and Reddit regularly. He also answers questions on Reddit or in his private Facebook group.

 

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