ICSI and ECO - what is the difference?

According to data provided by the world centers of family planning and reproduction, approximately 20% of all families created today face the problem of conception. After a thorough examination of the spouses, physicians choose the tactics of therapeutic measures. Often, the only solution to the problem is extracorporeal fertilization or ICSI (intracytoplasmic injection). Let's consider each of them in detail and tell you about what actually distinguishes ECO from ICSI.

What is an IVF?

Perhaps, every woman has ever heard such an abbreviation. It is customary to designate this type of reproductive procedure, in which the fertilization of the selected egg with the sperm occurs outside the mother's body, and in the laboratory.

So, before the IVF, physicians prescribe a course of hormone therapy for a woman, in order to increase the number of germ cells simultaneously maturing in the menstrual cycle. During ovulation, several eggs are collected at once, which are subsequently evaluated under a microscope. For successful IVF procedure, 3-4 fertilized sex cells can be inserted into the uterine cavity at the same time.

What is ICSI?

Intracytoplasmic injection is inherently more labor-intensive, but the effectiveness and the guarantee of the result is much higher. The very essence of manipulation lies in the fact that before the fertilization of the ovum by the doctors, in the course of a long examination the "ideal" sperm is selected. This takes into account the morphology of the head, body, and also the correspondence of these parts to the total length and shape of the cell. Of no small importance is the degree of activity of the sperm. The male sex cell selected in this way is used for the fertilization of the female biomaterial.

It should be noted that this kind of method is used in those cases when fertilization is impossible because of the low quality of spermatozoa. This is observed in diseases such as:

Which method is better?

Having understood what is the difference between ICSI and IVF, we will try to find out which of the 2 fertilization procedures considered is better.

In view of the fact that the intracytoplasmic injection is performed exclusively by the sperm, which corresponds to the parameters of the norm, the probability of pregnancy after such a procedure is much higher. However, this does not mean that it is used exclusively for the fertilization of a mature egg. As already mentioned, ICSI refers to special methods of reproduction and is used only in cases where the reason for the lack of conception is the mismatch of male sex cells normal.

Speaking about the difference between IVF and ICSI, it is worth noting that the first method of reproductive medicine has less complexity of carrying out. In addition, to prepare for it requires much less time and material costs. Perhaps, it is these factors that explain the wide prevalence of IVF in comparison with ICSI.

Thus, if we talk directly about what is the difference between IVF and ICSI, the main difference is the stage of selection and preparation of the sperm with intracytoplasmic injection. Otherwise, the technique of fertilization of a mature egg, taken from a woman, is similar. The choice of the method of the method of artificial insemination remains with the reproductologist. After all, only he knows that in a particular case it is better and more effective: ICSI or IVF.