PREMATURE LUTEINIZATION DURING CONTROLLED OVARIAN HYPERSTIMULATION FOR IN-VITRO FERTILIZATION-EMBRYO TRANSFER HAS NO IMPACT ON PREGNANCY OUTCOME

Objective: To determine if elevated serum P concentration on the day o f hCG administration or P area under the curve (AUG) impacts on pregna ncy rates (PRs) in IVF-ET cycles. Design: Retrospective study. Patient (s): One hundred thirty-three couples underwent IVF-ET using luteal Gn RH-agonist suppression followed by hyperstimulation with gonadotropins . Patient cycles were controlled for female age, ovarian reserve, male factor with intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), endometrial thic kness and pattern, number of embryos, and number of high-quality embry os transferred, and cell stage at transfer. Pregnancy was defined as a n ongoing pregnancy > 20 weeks. Result(s): Patients and cycle paramete rs did not differ significantly based on the control parameters. Simil ar numbers of severe male factors treated by ICSI were in each group w ith similar PRs. Pregnancy fates and implantation rates did not differ based on P levels less than or equal to 0.9, less than or equal to 1. 1, and less than or equal to 1.4 ng/mL (conversion factor to SI unit, 3.18). Serum P concentrations per total eggs retrieved or per mature e gg retrieved did not influence pregnancy outcome. Efficiency curves fo r serum P levels and P AUC did not demonstrate any differences in PR. At very high serum P (P > 2.0 ng/mL) sample size limits the ability of these data to rule out a negative effect. Conclusion(s): Serum P leve ls (and P AUC) commonly encountered during cycles of IVF-ET have no im pact on pregnancy outcome.