講演情報
[LS17]Good Practice in Genetic Counseling for PGT-A in the United States
○Alyssa Snider (Vice President, Clinical Genetic Services, Igenomix US)
The genetic counseling landscape in the field of assisted reproductive therapies (ART) in the United States is rich. Many patients undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) utilize preimplantation genetic testing to screen embryos for chromosome copy number (PGT-A) in an effort to identify which embryos have the best chances of reproductive success. Decisions regarding embryo transfer, continued cryopreservation, and disposition are routinely made based on PGT-A results. Certified genetic counselors are frequently employed to educate and consent patients prior to testing, review and interpret results, and facilitate decision making. Originating from the prenatal space, the field of genetic counseling has expanded and diversified to encompass many subspecialities, such as reproductive medicine, oncology, and pediatrics, to name a few, and now reaches into the industry setting and genetic testing laboratories. Unique to the ART space is the scarcity of physician medical geneticists or reproductive endocrinologists (REIs) with in-depth training in genetics, the low frequency of IVF clinics that employ in-house genetic counselors, and the common utilization of genetic counseling provided as a complementary service by PGT-A laboratories. This presentation will introduce genetic counseling for ART in the United States, describe good genetic counseling practices for PGT-A, including pre-test and post-test genetic counseling, and define “scope of practice” for ART genetic counselors. The goal of the presentation is to share information that can be used to support best patient care.