scholarly journals Comparison of stimulated cycles with low dose r-FSH versus hormone replacement cycles for endometrial preparation prior to frozen-thawed embryo transfer in young women with polycystic ovarian syndrome: A propensity scores matching analysis from 1434 patients

Author(s):  
Li Li ◽  
Dan-Dan Gao ◽  
Yi Zhang ◽  
Jing-Yan Song ◽  
Zhen-Gao Sun

Abstract Objective The principal purpose of this study was to compare reproductive outcomes for stimulated cycles (STC) and hormone replacement cycles (HRC) for endometrial preparation before frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FET) in young women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Methods We conducted a retrospective study of 1434 FET cycles from January, 2017 to March, 2020 in our reproductive center, in which stimulated and hormone replacement cycles were used for endometrial preparation. Pregnancy outcomes of couples undergoing routine STC-FET or HRC-FET were analyzed before and after propensity score matching (PSM). Results Data on 1234 HRC protocols (86% of the total) and 200 STC protocols (14%) were collected. After PSM, 199 patients were included in both groups, respectively. There was no significant difference in positive pregnancy rate (52.7% vs. 54.8%, p = 0.763), clinical pregnancy rate (51.8% vs. 52.8%, p = 0.841), live birth rate (45.2% vs. 43.7%, p = 0.762), pregnancy loss rate (9.7% vs. 16.2%, p = 0.164) and ectopic pregnancy rate (1.5% vs. 0.5%, p = 0.615) between STC protocols and HRC protocols. Conclusion STC for endometrial preparation had similar pregnancy outcomes compared with HRC protocols by excluding heterogeneous factors after PSM. Evidence is available which shows that for young women with PCOS who were undergoing in-vitro fertilization, HRC could be a reasonable choice for patients who are unwilling to accept injections. Additionally, STC may offer more flexibility for young PCOS patients and reproductive centres.

Author(s):  
Gülşen Doğan Durdağ ◽  
Gizem Bektaş ◽  
Esengül Türkyılmaz ◽  
Halime Göktepe ◽  
Meltem Sönmezer ◽  
...  

Objective: In frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FET) cycles, preparing a synchronous endometrium for the embryo is essential. Aim of this study is to provide individualized luteal support in hormonally replaced FET cycles, and to evaluate mid-luteal serum progesterone levels and pregnancy outcomes.Study Design: In this prospective cohort study, 30 patients were included in a university hospital in six month-period. Serum progesterone level on embryo transfer day was monitored, and if it was found to be below the lower limits defined by previous studies (10 ng/mL), additional 100 mg intramuscular micronized progesterone was administered once.Mid-luteal progesterone levels and pregnancy outcomes were recorded.Results: There was no significant difference between mid-luteal progesterone levels of the patients whose transfer day progesterone was above and below 10 ng/mL (p=0.481). Although clinical pregnancy rate tended to be higher in patients whose mid-luteal progesterone was above 10 ng/mL, it was also not statistically significant.Conclusion: This is the first study in which vaginal progesterone treatment was supported by intramuscular progesterone according to serum progesterone values for the purpose of individualized progesterone support. Significant difference was not found in pregnancy outcomes. However, further studies are required to optimize management and improve pregnancy rates in hormonally treated FET cycles.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bin xu ◽  
Jing Zhao ◽  
Zhaojuan Hou ◽  
Nenghui Liu ◽  
Yanping Li

Abstract Background: It is controversial whether gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRHa) pretreatment can benefit the pregnancy outcomes in frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FET) cycles. In most of studies, GnRHa was administered during the mid-luteal phase for pretreatment. Few studies focus on FET cycles with GnRHa administered in early follicle phase.Methods: The retrospective cohort study was conducted in a university-affiliated IVF center. 630 patients in the GnRHa FET group and 1141 patients in the hormone replacement treatment (HRT) FET without GnRHa group from October 2017 to March 2019 were included. The menstruation cycle of these patients was irregular. Results: There were no differences observed between the two groups in patient’s characteristics. However, the GnRHa FET group showed a higher percentage of endometrium with triple line pattern (94.8% vs 89.6%, p<0.001) on the day of progesterone administration, and an increased implantation rate (34.7% vs 30%, p<0.01), biochemical pregnancy rate (60.6% vs 54.3%, p = 0.009), and clinical pregnancy rate (49.8% vs 43.3%, p = 0.008), as compared to that in the HRT FET cycles with similar endometrial thickness, ectopic pregnancy rate, and early miscarriage rate. Binary logistic regression analysis showed the GnRHa FET group to be associated with an increased chance of clinical pregnancy rate compared with HRT FET without GnRHa group (P=0.014, odds ratio [OR] 1.30, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.06-1.61).Conclusions: Pretreatment with a long-acting GnRHa in early follicular phase can improve the clinical outcome of the FET cycles. However, further randomized control trials (RCTs) will be needed to verify these results.


2020 ◽  
Vol 80 (08) ◽  
pp. 820-833
Author(s):  
Dongjia Chen ◽  
Xiaoting Shen ◽  
Yu Fu ◽  
Chenhui Ding ◽  
Yiping Zhong ◽  
...  

AbstractWhile widely used for ovulation induction in assisted reproductive technology, the clinical efficacy of letrozole for endometrial preparation prior to frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FET) cycles remains yet to be elucidated. We performed a meta-analysis to compare pregnancy outcomes after letrozole use with those of other endometrial preparation protocols in patients undergoing FET. PubMed, Scopus, Embase and the Cochrane Library were searched for eligible studies. Clinical pregnancy rate (CPR), live birth rate (LBR) and birth defect rate (BDR) were analysed using odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). A total of 10 studies representing 75 968 FET cycles were included. Comparable CPR and LBR were observed when comparing letrozole administration with natural cycle (OR 1.24, 95% CI: 0.69 – 2.24; OR 1.18, 95% CI: 0.60 – 2.32), artificial cycle (OR 1.46, 95% CI: 0.87 – 2.44; OR 1.39, 95% CI: 0.77 – 2.52), and artificial cycle with gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist suppression (OR 1.11, 95% CI: 0.78 – 1.59; OR 1.18, 95% CI: 0.82 – 1.68). Pooled results of the limited studies comparing letrozole with human menopausal gonadotropin demonstrated a similar CPR between groups (OR 1.46, 95% CI: 0.29 – 7.21, two studies), but the letrozole group had a statistically lower LBR (OR 0.67, 95% CI: 0.52 – 0.86, one study). No increased BDR was observed in the letrozole group compared to natural cycles or artificial cycles (OR 0.98, 95% CI: 0.60 – 1.61; OR 1.39, 95% CI; 0.84 – 2.28). This pooled analysis supports the use of letrozole as an efficacious and safe alternative to mainstream regimens for endometrial preparation in FET cycles.


Author(s):  
Qiumin Wang ◽  
Yanjun Zheng ◽  
Ping Li ◽  
Guanqun Zhang ◽  
Shanshan Gao ◽  
...  

Abstract Objectives: To investigate pregnancy outcomes after frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FET) according to polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) phenotypes. Design: Retrospective study. Setting: University-based centre for reproductive medicine. Participants: 8903 patients who underwent FET between January 2017 and October 2019. Methods: All patients were divided into PCOS and control groups, with the former categorised into four phenotype groups (PCOS phenotypes A, B, C, D) based on Rotterdam criteria. All patient data were retrospectively collected and evaluated. Main outcome measures: Pregnancy outcomes after FET consisted of biochemical, clinical and ectopic pregnancies, abortion, premature delivery and live birth. Results: Women with PCOS phenotype A experienced an increased incidence of biochemical pregnancy, clinical pregnancy and premature delivery compared to those with PCOS phenotype D and in the control group (P < 0.001, P = 0.005, P = 0.006, respectively), while incidences of ectopic pregnancy and live birth were comparable between all groups (P > 0.05). We found significantly higher abortion (P = 0.010) and lower ongoing pregnancy (P = 0.023) rates for women with PCOS phenotypes A and D compared to those in the control group. After adjusting for potential confounders, PCOS phenotypes A and D (vs. control) were associated with an elevated risk of abortion (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 1.476, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.077–2.024, P = 0.016; adjusted OR, 1.348, 95% CI, 1.080–1.682, P = 0.008, respectively). Conclusions: For the first time, our study demonstrates that women with PCOS phenotypes A and D show an increased risk of abortion after FET.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Zhu ◽  
Qianqian Zhu ◽  
Jialyu Huang ◽  
Meiting Qiu ◽  
Yanwen Zhu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Previous studies have examined that a range of optimal serum P level during the implantation period was associated with optimal live birth rates. However, those results obtained with vaginal or intramuscular route of progesterone administration for LPS alone. Is there a relationship between the serum progesterone (P) on the day of frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FET) with the likelihood of a live birth(LB) in artificial cycles(AC) when using a combination of oral dydrogesterone and vaginal progesterone for luteal phase support (LPS)? Methods This was a retrospective study of 3659 FET cycles with artificial endometrial preparation in a Chinese tertiary-care academic medical centre from January 2015 to February 2017. Endometrial preparation was performed using estradiol (E 2 ) valerate (Fematon-red tablets) 8 mg/d beginning on day 3 of the cycle, followed by administration of P both orally (40 mg dydrogesterone and 8 mg E 2 twice per day, Fematon-yellow tablets) and vaginally (400 mg/d; Utrogestan). The primary endpoint was LBR. The association between the serum P level on the embryo transfer day and pregnancy outcomes was evaluated by univariable and multivariable logistic regression analysis. Results Mean serum P on the day of embryo transfer was 10.30 ± 3.88 ng/ml (percentiles: 25, 7.9; 50, 9.7; 75, 12.1). The LBRs according to the serum P quartiles were as follows: Q1, 35.7%; Q2, 37.4%; Q3, 39.1%; and Q4: 38.9%. Logistic regression analysis showed that the odds of a LB were not significantly different between the low (P <7.9 ng/mL) and high (P ≥7.9 ng/mL) progesterone groups before or after adjustment (crude odds ratio [OR] = 0.89, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.76-1.04; adjusted OR = 0.89, 95% CI: 0.75-1.04). Conclusions The present study suggests that the serum P levels on the day of ET do not correlate with the likelihood of a LB in artificial cycles when using a combination of oral dydrogesterone and vaginal progesterone for luteal phase support. In addition, prospective, randomized, controlled, blinded trials are merited to determine the optimal dosing regimen for oral dydrogesterone in in AC-FET for LPS.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document