Introduction. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of
the body mass index on the outcome of in vitro fertilization in patients with
polycystic ovary syndrome. Material and Methods. The study sample consisted
of 123 patients with polycystic ovary syndrome who completed their in vitro
fertilization treatment at the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics,
Clinical Center Nis, Republic of Serbia, and they were retrospectively
analyzed. The patients were divided by body mass index into two groups for
the comparison of the findings. One group (normal weight) consisted of women
with body mass index ? 25 kg/m2 (mean 22.08?1.90), and the other group
(overweight) included women with body mass index > 25 kg/m2 (mean
27.65?1.47). The patients underwent either the standard long
gonadotrophin-releasing hormone agonist protocol or flexible multidose
gonadotrophin-releasing hormone antagonist protocol. Results. The
normal-weight patients had a higher number of mature oocytes, significantly
higher fertilization rate (p<0.001) and significantly higher number of the
obtained embryos class I (p<0.01) than the overweight patients. However, the
implantation rate and clinical pregnancy rate were the same in both groups.
Conclusion. In the group of overweight women the numbers of mature oocytes
and good quality embryos were lower. However, since this study dealt with the
patients with polycystic ovary syndrome who generally had a higher number of
the obtained oocytes and embryos, this shortfall did not affect clinical
pregnancy rates, which were the same in both groups. Certainly, before
starting the in vitro fertilization, each infertile patient should be
informed about the possible negative effect of her high body mass index on
the treatment outcome.