Multifetal pregnancy reduction

Multifetal pregnancies have increased dramatically since the introduction and improvement in assisted reproductive techniques. Multifetal pregnancy reduction (MPR) is a technique developed over the past 15 years to deal with the sequelae of higher order multiple gestations resulting from infertility treatment. With increasing operator experience, loss rates for patients undergoing MPR have declined dramatically. The present review addresses recent data on the outcomes of patients undergoing MPR, as well as recent information on the natural history of higher-order multiple gestations in individuals not undergoing MPR. New developments in this area such as the use of chorionic villus sampling before MPR, as well as MPR to a single fetus, and information on the psychological follow-up of MPR patients are also discussed.