ERA- personalized test of the endometrial receptivity, a great chance for parenthood

Couples who are struggling with infertility know how bad it feels when the process of in vitro fertilisation fails. Many of them go through this experience several times, like Nevena J. (36).

Before she met Dr Zorica Crnogorac, who suggested that she should do ERA test, she had had eight unsuccessful attempts of in vitro fertilisation. In July 2015 she underwent the abovementioned testing and she got the result P+5, while the IVF procedure was performed in September of the same year. In May 2016, she gave birth to a beautiful baby boy.

– My happiness was immense, I am sorry that I didn’t know about this test before, I am sure I would have had a chance to become a mother earlier, Nevena said.

While ERA test of the endometrial receptivity has been talked and written about only since recently in Europe, it is little known that it has been used in Serbia for already four years. The pioneer of introducing that kind of testing in our country is exactly the Specialized Gynecology Hospital Novi Sad. ERA test contributes greatly in the increase of in vitro fertilisation success rate.

You had several unsuccessful attempts of IVF? ERA test is the next step

–It is used for determining genetic endometrial receptivity, that is determining the date and time when an ebryo should be placed in each woman individually.

ERA test has discovered that in 27% of women th endometrium is not ready for accepting an embryo on the third or the fifth day after taking egg cells and performing fertilisation, as explined by Dr Crnogorac, a head of the team for in vitro fertilisation of the hospital Genesis.

She adds that according to clinical investigations ERA test increases the success rate of IVF by 25% in patients of all age groups who underwent one or more unsuccessful procedures, as well as those women who enter the process of the infertility treatment for the first time.

– Combination of ERA and PGS tests results in a IVF success rate of up to 80%. Among the other things, I have advocated that these tests should become available within health insurance, Dr Crnogorac points out.

Advantages in comparison to former practice

Traditional method of endometrial dating is based on hystology criteria. However, it has been proven that they do not make a difference between fertile and infertile patients and that they are very subjective, which means they do not have clinical implementation.

– ERA test enables detection of personalized imantation window for each patient, before she starts with assisted reproductive tchnology, Dr Crnogorac says.

How is ERA test performed

For diagnostics of endometrial receptivity it is necessary to perform biopsy of mucosa from the bottom of the uterus, after adequate preparation of a patient by hormonal balance supplements. Biopsy is relatively painless and it does not require anaesthesia.

The removed sample is sent to the laboratory in Valencia, where genetic diagnostics of the biopsy sample is done and its receptivity is determined.

– The test results are obtained within two to three weeks. In case that ERA test shows that the time of receptivity is not right, the transfer of a blastocyst and the eight-cell embryo is performed on some other date, Dr Crnogorac explains.

Important ally in efforts to achieve offspring

ERA test was developed and patented by well-known Spanish genetic laboratory “Igenomix“ with the famous Professor Karlos Simon, after more than ten years of research in the infertility field.

In 2014, a team of experts from Valencia chose Genesis to be the pioneer of introducing ERA test in the region of Southeastern Europe, but also some other noninvasive prenatal genetic tests, which are an important ally in efforts to achieve healthy offspring, as well as to IVF procedure itself.

–  The Hospital has been another name for innovations in the field of assisted reproduction in Serbia and the region for quite many years, with a success rate of 60%. Over the last twelve years of our existence, carefully following the challenges we were faced with together with couples, we increasingly kept noticing that the problem of IVF failure is caused by mutations at the level of genes, chromosomes, embryos and genetics of endometrial receptivity.

That was our motive to improve the process of in vitro fertilisation, and be the pioneer of introducing most up-to-date genetic tests in this region. The success rate of in vitro fertilisation increased by up to 75% owing to the implementation of these tests, even in the category where it is hardest to achieve, and that is among women who are over the age of 40. Some of these tests help detect about 15.000 mutations and 600 genetic disorders, Dr Zorica Crnogorac concludes.

The seven revolutionary Genesis tests

Genetic tests that are available in SGH Genesis provide the following analyses:

-genome of both partners (CGT test)

-sperm cell analysis (SAT)

-genetic screening of an embryo before an embryotransfer, evaluation of chromosomes (PGS test)

-genetic diagnostics of gene mutations, before an embryotransfer (PGD)

-diagnostics of endometrial receptivity, individual highly reliable test (ERA test)

-discovering gene mutations responsible for the development of breast and ovarian cancer (BRCA 1 and 2)

–NACE noninvasive prenatal test, performed since the tenth week of pregnancy, insures detection of disorders on 13, 18, 21, 9 chromosome and sex chromosomes of the baby.

If this test reveals suspicious chromosome anomalies of the baby, an early amniocentesis is indicated within 15-16 week of the pregnancy, which is in that case performed free of charge in the hospital Genesis.

For additional information on ERA test and other most modern genetic screening methods that you can undergo in Genesis,  make a phone call +381 21 549 444, +381 21 549 777, or send an E-mail to bolnica@genesis.rs or visit us at the address Urosa Predica Street 4 in Novi Sad.