Zygote intra fallopian transfer (ZIFT) is an

infertility treatment Assisted reproductive technology (ART) includes medical procedures used primarily to address infertility. This subject involves procedures such as in vitro fertilization (IVF), intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), cryopreservation of gametes o ...

used when a blockage in the

fallopian tube The fallopian tubes, also known as uterine tubes, oviducts or salpinges (singular salpinx), are paired tubes in the human female that stretch from the uterus to the ovaries. The fallopian tubes are part of the female reproductive system. In ot ...

s prevents the normal binding of sperm to the egg.

Egg cells The egg cell, or ovum (plural ova), is the female reproductive cell, or gamete, in most anisogamous organisms (organisms that reproduce sexually with a larger, female gamete and a smaller, male one). The term is used when the female gamete is ...

are removed from a woman's

ovaries The ovary is an organ in the female reproductive system that produces an ovum. When released, this travels down the fallopian tube into the uterus, where it may become fertilized by a sperm. There is an ovary () found on each side of the body. T ...

, and in vitro fertilised. The resulting

zygote A zygote (, ) is a eukaryotic cell formed by a fertilization event between two gametes. The zygote's genome is a combination of the DNA in each gamete, and contains all of the genetic information of a new individual organism. In multicellula ...

is placed into the

by the use of

laparoscopy Laparoscopy () is an operation performed in the abdomen or pelvis using small incisions (usually 0.5–1.5 cm) with the aid of a camera. The laparoscope aids diagnosis or therapeutic interventions with a few small cuts in the abdomen.Medli ...

. The procedure is a spin-off of the

gamete intrafallopian transfer Gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT) is a tool of assisted reproductive technology against infertility. Eggs are removed from a woman's ovaries, and placed in one of the Fallopian tubes, along with the man's sperm. The technique, first attem ...

(GIFT) procedure. The pregnancy and implantation rates in ZIFT cycles are 52.3 and 23.2% which were higher than what was observed in IVF cycles which were 17.5 and 9.7%. __TOC__

Procedure

The average ZIFT cycle takes five weeks-six weeks to complete. First, the female must take a

fertility medication Fertility medications, also known as fertility drugs, are medications which enhance reproductive fertility. For women, fertility medication is used to stimulate follicle development of the ovary. There are very few fertility medication options a ...

clomiphene to stimulate egg production in the ovaries. The doctor will monitor the growth of the

ovarian follicles An ovarian follicle is a roughly spheroid cellular aggregation set found in the ovaries. It secretes hormones that influence stages of the menstrual cycle. At the time of puberty, women have approximately 200,000 to 300,000 follicles, each with t ...

, and once they are mature, the woman will receive an injection containing

human chorionic gonadotropin Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) is a hormone for the maternal recognition of pregnancy produced by trophoblast cells that are surrounding a growing embryo (syncytiotrophoblast initially), which eventually forms the placenta after implantation ...

s (HCG or hCG). The eggs will be harvested approximately 36 hours later, usually by

transvaginal ovum retrieval Transvaginal oocyte retrieval (TVOR), also referred to as oocyte retrieval (OCR), is a technique used in in vitro fertilization (IVF) in order to remove oocytes from the ovary of a woman, enabling fertilization outside the body. Transvaginal oocyte ...

. After fertilization in the laboratory, the resulting early embryos or zygotes are placed into the woman's fallopian tubes using a

laparoscope Laparoscopy () is an operation performed in the abdomen or pelvis using small incisions (usually 0.5–1.5 cm) with the aid of a camera. The laparoscope aids diagnosis or therapeutic interventions with a few small cuts in the abdomen.Medl ...

Indications

ZIFT has been used in infertility situations where at least one of the fallopian tubes is normal and other treatments have failed; however, the need for two interventions and the fact that

IVF In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a process of fertilisation where an egg is combined with sperm in vitro ("in glass"). The process involves monitoring and stimulating an individual's ovulatory process, removing an ovum or ova (egg or eggs) fr ...

results are equal or better (as of 2004), leaves few indications for this procedure. Accordingly, the number of ZIFTs performed has been declining.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zygote Intrafallopian Transfer Assisted reproductive technology Fertility medicine Fertility Female genital procedures