Saturday 14 May 2005
Later interventions fail to compensate for initial low ovarian response
Source: Fertility and Sterility 2005; 83: 1384-90
Evaluating the prognostic value of a low response to controlled ovarian hyperstimulation in an initial IVF cycle.
A poor response to ovarian stimulation in an initial IVF cycle bodes poorly for outcome in later cycles, even if the woman's ovarian response is subsequently improved, say researchers.
To explore the prognostic significance of a low response in the first IVF/ICSI cycle, Zdravka Veleva (University of Oulu, Finland) and colleagues conducted a retrospective analysis of data for 80 women, out of 3846 treated at one of two fertility centers over an 8-year period, who had at least one low response during three treatment cycles.
After excluding the two women who had a low response in every cycle, the authors split the remaining women according to their response to the initial cycle: low responders (LR, n = 43) and normal responders (NR, n = 35).
Although mean gonadotropin dose was increased after a low response, and this increased the oocyte yield, pregnancy rate per cycle remained significantly lower in both LR and NR women, compared with the overall mean pregnancy rate for the study period (10.1 percent and 16.2 percent vs 27.2 percent). In addition, during cycles in which top quality embryos were transferred, LR women achieved a lower pregnancy rate than NR individuals.
Veleva et al conclude: "If the first treatment cycle is LR, the outcome of subsequent cycles remains poor despite improved ovarian response, even in cycles in which a top quality embryo is transferred."
Posted: 13 May 2005
http://www.obgynworld.com/international/news/2005/Week_19/Day_5/Later_interventions_.asp 
Later interventions fail to compensate for initial low ovarian response 
