Serono Symposium to review options available for optimizing Assisted Reproductive Technologies

Serono Symposia International Foundation will gather a team of leading international experts meeting on November 26th in Montreal in order to review the different options currently available to optimize ART (Assisted Reproductive Technologies) outcomes during the event "Treating the Ovary to Obtain Better Eggs".

Participants in the Symposium will discuss how to improve the quality of oocytes used for fertilization procedures and will be updated on the range of available approaches. Besides, they will acknowledge the most reliable markers of infertility profile and will discuss the best criteria in order to evaluate oocyte quality.

The meeting is divided into three sessions. The first one will focus its attention on the fundamentals of the ovarian physiology, and will give an overview on how and why ovarian stimulation modifies physiological mechanisms. Key aspects of follicular growth and ovulation that must be emulated by ovarian stimulation protocols will be described, as well as the consequences that may arise when the response of patients to ovarian stimulation deviates from the expected one, in particular regarding oocyte quality.

"The greatest aim for experts is to understand the way in which ovarian stimulation protocols work and the risks related to hyper and hypo-response," said the scientist professor Marc Andre Sirard from University Laval, Quebec and Scientific Organizer of the event, "and to learn about new lines of research in ovarian stimulation protocols. Moreover, we will discuss on how treatment can be identified in practice, by observing the alteration in infertile women and considering the predictability of ovarian stimulation protocols."

The second session will analyze the clinical applications of the ovarian physiology. Speakers will describe mild stimulation approaches related to the different protocols proposed and will define the criteria to describe infertility profile of patients in whom mild stimulation may achieve optimal results and in line with expectations. In the same session the roles of FSH (Follicle Stimulating Hormone) and LH (Luteinizing Hormone) in the initiation and continuation of folliculogenesis in the natural menstrual cycle will be defined. Lastly, the reasons of the current debate on the optimization of LH use in combination with FSH in stimulation protocols will be explained.

Therefore, the final session of this scientific Symposium will include a panel discussion in order to stimulate debate on optimizing ovarian stimulation to improve oocyte quality.

"As Continuing Medical Education Partner, Serono Symposia International Foundation is committed to offer its know-how in the International scenario," said Jean Daniel Baki, Board Member and Secretary of the Board of Serono Symposia International Foundation, "and more even so in Canada in order to support the local efforts in organizing scientific educational panels and events tailored for Canadian Health care professionals and clinicians."