Textbook of Assisted Reproductive Techniques

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Dr. Hugo Verhoeven: "I am on the Editorial Board of the OBGYN.net, and I'm reporting from the 6th International Symposium on GnRH Analogues in Cancer and Human Reproduction in Geneva, Switzerland. It is a great honor for me to have the chance to interview Zeev Shoham who is Director of the Reproductive Medicine Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Kaplan Medical Center in Rehovot, Israel and Ariel Weissman who is working at the IVF Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Edith Wolfson Medical Center, Holon, Israel. Good afternoon, gentlemen. Once again, thank you for giving me the pleasure of interviewing you. This afternoon I saw a very remarkable book that is called 'Textbook of Assisted Reproductive Techniques' and you two are the editors. It seems to me that this book is going to be the bible for all people interested in reproductive technology. What was the idea behind the book, and how did you get the idea to write this textbook - Ariel?"

Prof. Ariel Weissman: "Assisted reproductive techniques have expanded in the last two decades and it's now a…"

Prof. Zeev Shoham: "It's an independent field in reproductive medicine. Therefore, because we don't have enough concentrated information, the information that we have today is coming from different books and different chapters, so we decided to actually have one textbook, a learning book, which is divided into two sections - the laboratory part and the clinical part. If you are interested in the profession, if you want to create an IVF laboratory, or if you have any questions - this is the textbook in which you can find the answer."

Dr. Hugo Verhoeven: "You selected an international faculty for writing the different chapters in this book, and each of those writers is very famous in their special field. The book has sixty-two chapters, is that correct?"

Prof. Zeev Shoham: "Yes."

Dr. Hugo Verhoeven: "Maybe you could give a short overview of the content of those chapters."

Prof. Ariel Weissman: "The book was planned to be as comprehensive as possible starting from scratch. Starting from A - first how to set up the ART laboratory, everything that has to do with the surroundings, the equipment, the conditions, quality control, and then with accreditation for the laboratory. There's a section on the actual handling of the gametes and the embryos and a separate section on different manipulation techniques, general aspects of the equipment and the technique, ICSI, assisted hatching, and the other micromanipulation techniques. Another section deals with cryobiology, cryopreservation of gametes, embryos, and also ovarian tissue. There's a separate section on the evolving field of a preimplantation and a genetic diagnosis. Another section is on the different aspects of an embryo implantation, the embryo part and the endometrium part. There is a separate section on data management and interpretation, and this is the first half of the book. This is the basics and the laboratory aspects, and then we get to the second part of the book, which is the clinical. The clinical part also tries to cover comprehensively all the aspects of a patient; the management from a patient investigation, the use of different drugs, different stimulation protocols, different classes of patients in special medical conditions, different technical procedures from the clinician's point of view and not the laboratory, and then of course the complications of treatment. A separate section is on egg donation and surrogate motherhood, and then the book is concluded by the support team and also the ethics and legislation that is related to ART."

Dr. Hugo Verhoeven: "Thank you very much. Zeev, what makes this book unique from your point of view?"

Prof. Zeev Shoham: "First of all, there's no other book that contains so much information, and basically this book collects data from the beginning of the IVF so if you have a problem or you want to research anything in the field of IVF, you can go to this book and you can use it as a reference and find the beginning and the progress in each of the fields involving IVF. There is not such a comprehensive book, there are many books dealing with IVF but different parts of IVF and this combines the most information regarding this field. I want to add that this book is not only for physicians, this book can also give some ideas, thoughts, and help to couples that are being treated. They can gain professional information from this book, and they can know what they are going to approach and what they are facing." 

Prof. Ariel Weissman: "One of the things that makes this book so special is the list of contributors, as you have mentioned, for each chapter it is actually the world leaders in the field and the expert for their specific topic so there's an excellent list of contributors."

Prof. Zeev Shoham: "We shouldn't forget that we are only two of the editors, there are another two editors - David Gardner and Colin Howles who contributed a lot to the success of this project."

Dr. Hugo Verhoeven: "The book is already on the market now. Could you tell me what it costs and where our listeners or readers can buy the book?"

Prof. Zeev Shoham: "The book is being published by Martin Dunitz Publishers in London, and you can find it there. The book will also be on the web and sold by OBGYN.net and you can find the different prices and actually browse for the best price wherever you can."

Dr. Hugo Verhoeven: "Any plans for the future, Ariel, is there going to be another book?"

Prof. Ariel Weissman: "If this book becomes a success, as we hope it will be, and with this field evolving very rapidly, I believe that within a few years a second edition will be a necessity. We hope that that's what is actually going to happen."

Dr. Hugo Verhoeven: "Gentlemen, thank you very much for this very interesting interview. Have a great evening, thank you."