G. Ndukwe et al., SEVERE OVARIAN HYPERSTIMULATION SYNDROME - IS IT REALLY PREVENTABLE BY PROPHYLACTIC INTRAVENOUS ALBUMIN, Fertility and sterility, 68(5), 1997, pp. 851-854
Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of TV albumin in preventing s
evere ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) in patients at risk. De
sign: Retrospective review and data analysis. Setting: University-base
d tertiary referral center for assisted reproductive technologies (ART
). Patient(s): Sixty women at high risk of developing severe OHSS afte
r superovulation for ART. Intervention(s): One liter of albumin (4.5%)
administered IV during oocyte retrieval and immediately afterward. Re
sult(s): Of the 60 women who had prophylactic IV albumin, 5 (8%) devel
oped severe OHSS, which led to hospitalization. Eight (13%) developed
moderate OHSS. Forty-seven (78%) did not develop any symptoms. Four of
the 5 women who developed severe OHSS had ET and 3 of them (75%) were
pregnant (1 twin and 2 singletons). Conclusion(s): Intravenous albumi
n administered at oocyte retrieval does not prevent the occurrence of
severe OHSS, especially in cases associated with pregnancy. It is impo
rtant that clinicians are not lured into a false sense of security by
the early report, full of promise, on the use of TV albumin to prevent
severe OHSS. (C) 1997 by American Society for Reproductive Medicine.