International Committee for Monitoring Assisted Reproductive Technology (ICMART) world report: assisted reproductive technology 2003

Objective: To analyze information on assisted reproductive technologies (ART) performed globally.

Design: Data on access, efficacy, and safety of ART were collected for the year 2003 from 54 countries.

Setting: National and regional ART registries globally.

Patient(s): Patients undergoing ART globally.

Intervention(s): Collection and analysis of international ART registry data.

Main outcome measure(s): Number of cycles performed in reporting countries and regions globally for different ART procedures with resulting pregnancy, live birth and multiple birth rates.

Result(s): A total of 433,427 initiated cycles reported in this registry resulted in 173,424 babies born. This corresponded to a delivery rate per aspiration of 22.4% for in vitro fertilization (IVF), 23.3% for intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), and a delivery rate per transfer of 17.1% for frozen embryo transfer. Although there is wide variation among countries and regions, the overall proportion of deliveries with twins and triplets from IVF and ICSI was 24.8% and 2.0%, respectively. There were wide variations in access, and compared with the previous report (year 2002), there was a 3.9% increase in the number of reported cycles and a minor increase in the delivery rate per aspiration. There was also a marginal decline in the mean number of embryos transferred and in the rate of multiple births.

Conclusion(s): ART access, efficacy, and safety varies greatly globally. Collection and analysis of data over time will benefit ART patients, providers, and policy makers.