Clinics

Infertility Clinic

The Infertility Treatment Center of Behboud Hospital, drawing on the most advanced diagnostic and therapeutic equipment and the cooperation of experienced specialists, operates for the treatment of infertile couples. The departments of specialty male infertility consultation and treatment, specialty female and infertility consultation and treatment, genetic counseling, laparoscopy, hysteroscopy, and the initiation of ICSI, IVF, and IUI treatment cycles are among the services performed at this center.

Services Provided in the Infertility Department

  • Specialty consultation for female and male infertility
  • Specialty semen analysis
  • Services for the treatment of infertility (IUI, IUI with sex selection, IVF, ICSI, TESE, PESA, PGD, oocyte/embryo/sperm freezing, hysteroscopy, laparoscopy, oocyte and embryo donation)

Specialty Department for Female Infertility

Consultation with an obstetrician-gynecologist is the first treatment step for the infertile couple. After history taking and examination, the physician orders the necessary hormonal tests, such as FSH, LH, progesterone, estradiol, PRL, thyroid function tests, and, where necessary, laparoscopy, hysteroscopy, and hysterosalpingography. After reviewing the results, the appropriate treatment method is recommended.

Treatment methods include the following:

In the workup of infertility after preliminary investigations, laparoscopy and hysteroscopy serve both diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. In addition to diagnosing conditions such as polycystic ovary syndrome, adhesions, ovarian cysts, endometriosis and endometrioma, fibroids and polyps, uterine septum, intrauterine adhesions, and, in cases of recurrent miscarriage or repeated micro-failure, surgery is performed to remove uterine fibroids and ovarian cysts and to ablate endometriosis lesions and the cortex of polycystic ovaries that are resistant to medical treatment.

ICSI (microinjection): In ICSI, the woman’s oocyte is combined with the man’s sperm outside the body in a laboratory setting; after fertilization, the resulting embryo is transferred into the uterus. ICSI is used in all cases where conditions for the sperm to reach the oocyte in the uterus are not present, such as blocked fallopian tubes, pelvic adhesions, low sperm count, and low sperm motility. The success rate of this method per embryo transfer at the infertility center depends on conditions in the embryology laboratory, the gynecologist’s precision in the treatment process, the woman’s age, and the quality of the transferred embryos; given these variables, the rate is determined to be approximately 30 to 40 percent.

Infertility treatment by IUI: Intrauterine insemination (IUI) is the placement of sperm into the woman’s uterus at the time of ovulation. This treatment is among the first-line treatments for infertility. IUI also helps individuals taking ovulation-inducing medications increase their chance of pregnancy.

Conditions treatable with IUI include:

  • Unexplained infertility
  • Severe pain during intercourse
  • Difficulty with ejaculation and erection
  • Low sperm count or low sperm motility
  • Ovulatory disorders in women
  • Vaginismus
  • Anti-sperm antibodies in semen
  • Cervical secretions hostile to sperm, scant cervical mucus, or excessively thick cervical mucus that prevents sperm passage
  • Mild to moderate endometriosis

Specialty Male Laboratory (Andrology)

In the andrology laboratory, semen analysis is performed for both macroscopic features (volume, color, viscosity, odor, appearance, and acidity) and microscopic features, including sperm motility, the precise number of sperm per milliliter of semen, the percentage of viable sperm, and the presence or absence of white blood cells. Morphologic abnormalities of the sperm are also examined in detail, after specific staining, with regard to the head, neck, and tail.

In this laboratory, sperm function is evaluated using the following specialty tests:

  • Cap test: for capacitation of sperm and separation of motile from non-motile sperm
  • SDFA: to determine the level of chromosomal damage in sperm
  • SCMA: to determine the level of chromatin maturity in sperm
  • Vitality test: to determine the viability of sperm in cases where sperm are non-motile or very few motile sperm are present
  • Survival test: to assess the duration of sperm viability
  • Peroxidase test: to assess the level of infectious contamination of sperm

Embryology Laboratory

This center is equipped with the most advanced facilities for in-vitro fertilization. In this laboratory, with the cooperation of embryology specialists and experienced laboratory science professionals, in addition to performing IVF and ICSI (microinjection), it is also possible to freeze sperm, embryos, and oocytes. The freezing system in this laboratory allows infertile couples, upon request, to store and preserve their sperm, embryos, or oocytes for future use. Laser hatching, the newest method used worldwide to increase the chance of implantation in the uterus, is also performed in this laboratory. In addition, blastomere biopsy of embryos for genetic studies and embryo quality assessment has also been established.

Infertility Counseling Center

This center has been established to answer patients’ questions at the start of and during treatment, to enhance the quality and quantity of services, to increase couples’ awareness of various infertility problems, and to familiarize them with treatment systems and the facilities available at this center.

Genetic Counseling

Sex determination and screening for chromosomal abnormalities by PGD or PGS (preimplantation genetic diagnosis prior to embryo transfer) requires IVF (in-vitro fertilization). After stimulation of the woman’s ovaries with specific medications, the resulting oocytes are retrieved in the operating room and combined with the partner’s sperm; after embryo formation and culture, at the 6- to 8-cell stage, one or two blastomeres are removed and evaluated.

Indications for PGD and PGS

Some of the indications for PGD and PGS are as follows:

  • Patients who have undergone more than three IVF or microinjection procedures without resulting in pregnancy
  • When abnormalities such as translocation (rearrangement of chromosomal segments) are present on the couple’s karyotype testing
  • Recurrent miscarriages without other identifiable causes
  • Sex determination
  • Single-gene diseases such as thalassemia and Duchenne muscular dystrophy that may manifest in the newborn
  • Screening for disorders of chromosomes 13, 18, 21, X, and Y