OUTCOME OF FROZEN EMBRYO REPLACEMENT CYCLES FOLLOWING ELECTIVE CRYOPRESERVATION OF ALL EMBRYOS IN WOMEN AT RISK OF DEVELOPING OVARIAN HYPERSTIMULATION SYNDROME
Ao. Awonuga et al., OUTCOME OF FROZEN EMBRYO REPLACEMENT CYCLES FOLLOWING ELECTIVE CRYOPRESERVATION OF ALL EMBRYOS IN WOMEN AT RISK OF DEVELOPING OVARIAN HYPERSTIMULATION SYNDROME, Journal of assisted reproduction and genetics, 13(4), 1996, pp. 293-297
Aim: Our aim was to compare the outcome in subsequent frozen embryo re
placement cycles in four groups of patients who had elective cryoprese
rvation of all their embryos because they were considered to be at inc
reased risk of developing severe ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome. De
sign: Sixty-two (91%) of 68 NF cycles (68 patients) in which elective
cryopreservation of all embryos was performed were analyzed All patien
ts continued on the GnRH agonist, buserelin, after oocyte recovery unt
il the onset of vaginal bleeding. Frozen embryo replacement occurred i
n a hormone replacement cycle that started either on day 3 of the with
drawal bleed (group I; N = 15) or after serum estradiol levels had fal
len to <100 pmol/L (group II; N = 16). The other patients commenced a
frozen embryo replacement cycle several months later in either a hormo
ne replacement (group III; N = 15) or a natural (group IV; N = 16) cyc
le. Results: Two patients developed severe ovarian hyperstimulation sy
ndrome, There were no significant differences among the four groups re
garding demographic variables, the dose of hMG used, and the clinical
outcome. There was a higher but not significantly different clinical p
regnancy rare in group I (26.7%), compared to group II (12.5%), group
III (13.3%), and group IV (18.8%). Conclusions: Several options exist
for the timing and protocol used for frozen embryo replacement in pati
ents who had elective cryopreservation for the prevention of ovarian h
yperstimulation syndrome, none of which was found to be clearly superi
or in this observational report.