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The Southeastern Center for Fertility and Reproductive Surgery offers this site as an information resource for couples coping with the difficulties of infertility. Just as our center provides the most advanced treatment for our patients, this site provides the most recent and accurate medical information concerning infertility and reproductive surgery. Located in Knoxville, Tennessee, the center specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of male and female infertility problems. Under the direction of Jeffrey A. Keenan M.D., F.A.C.O.G., our patients receive the highest quality medical care available in the region. Dr. Keenan is one of the most experienced and respected specialists in infertility and reproductive medicine and surgery. We provide updates on this site to ensure you are receiving Winter / Spring Update 2009New Location a SuccessWe have now completed several assisted reproductive (IVF, FET) cycles in our new location. Because of the highly controlled coniditions that are required for human embryo culture, a move to another location is always a concern for physicians and embryology staff. Fortunately, our cycles thus far have shown outstanding success rates for both fresh and frozen transfer cycles! We appreciate your understanding and faith in us during this change. I also want to thank our embryologist, Carol Sommerfelt, without whom we could not have made such a smooth transition. New Federal Grant for Embryo Donation CenterWe are proud to announce that the National Embryo Donation Center has recently been awarded a 3 year grant to promote embryo donation and adoption awareness. This competitive grant was awarded to just 4 organiations nationwide, and the NEDC received the maximum amount allowable. The NEDC will continue to be headquartered in the Southeastern Fertility Center offices for the immediate future. Please stop by and meet our new staff! Oocyte freezing still “experimental”Despite it's use in thousands of cycles worldwide, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine has again stated that oocyte freezing should be considered experimental. The reason for this is that we have yet to collect enough data on births from this procedure, and the optimal methods for egg freezing are still being debated. However, we have been performing this procedure for a few years now (under IRB consents) and like many others around the world have found it to be a safe and effective process to achieve pregnancy. The big advantage of this procedure is that it allows couples to avoid the potentially difficult decision of what to do with leftover embryos. Unlike embryos, there is no intrinsic unique value to frozen eggs. |
What Others Are Saying...
Literature Review
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Obesity effects on fertility quantified: In a recent article in Human Reproduction, a European group studied a large group of couples wanting to conceive. They found that for every unit of Body Mass Index (BMI) greater than 30, there is a 4-5% lower chance of pregnancy each month. For reference, a BMI of 20 – 25 is “normal”, 26 – 30 is “overweight” and 31 and above is “obese”. To find your BMI, click here. To put this in more practical terms, a 247 pound woman who is 5' 6” tall has a BMI of 40. Therefore, her chances of becoming pregnant each month is only half that of a 130 pound woman of the same height! As Tennessee has the second highest rate of obesity in the nation, we are particularly concerned about this problem, and agree with other health professionals that obesity has truly reached epidemic proportions in America. Have you stopped your Metformin? Last year, a study presented at the national meeting of the ASRM showed research data which indicated that metformin (Glucophage, Fortamet, and others) was helpful as an adjunct in helping women with PCOS conceive. Unforntunately, many doctors stopped using metformin in their patients after this study was published. We disagreed with the conclusions of this study, because we felt that the it had been conducted poorly. While we do believe that metformin is not needed to treat ALL women with PCOS, it can be quite helpful as an adjunct in several types of patients. This was recently confirmed in another study from Human Reproduction out of the Netherlands. They found that Metformin did in fact help certain groups of patients, especially older and more obese patients who had extra fat centrally. Furthermore, we have found that many of these patients belong to another group whom benefit from metformin use – those with high testosterone levels and insulin resistance. Finally, the use of metformin is also helpful in women whom have “failed” Clomid. We find many 'clomid failures' will respond to clomid once they are on an adequate does of metformin. SO, if you have been taken off your metformin and aren't doing as well, talk to your physicians about getting back on this valuable medication! |
