POLYCYSTIC-OVARY-SYNDROME PATIENTS AS OOCYTE DONORS - THE EFFECT OF OVARIAN STIMULATION PROTOCOL ON THE IMPLANTATION RATE OF THE RECIPIENT

Objective: To evaluate the outcome of oocytes donated by women with po lycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) compared with oocytes donated by wome n with mechanical infertility. Design: A retrospective study. Patients : The outcome of 154 oocyte donation cycles with oocyte donated by PCO S patients were compared with 69 oocyte donation cycles with oocytes d onated by patients with mechanical infertility. We compared the stimul ation protocols in the donors to assess if the combination of GnRH ana logue (GnRH-a), FSH, and hMG has an advantage over FSH and hMG alone w ith respect to their effect on fertilization and implantation rates in oocyte donation cycles. Results: When treated with GnRH-a, pregnancy rates in PCOS and mechanical infertility donors were higher than those treated with PSH and hMG alone. The comparison between PCOS and mecha nical factor oocyte recipients revealed no significant difference in t he pregnancy and abortion rates, but the oocytes of patients with PCOS that were exposed to GnRH-a had a significantly higher implantation r ate than those not exposed to GnRH-a. Conclusions: Oocytes obtained fr om PCOS patients had a fertilization potential equal to oocytes obtain ed from mechanical infertility donors. Furthermore, because the oocyte s of patients with PCOS exposed to GnRH-a had a significantly higher i mplantation rate, a detrimental role of high LH on oocyte quality seem s probable. However, because PCOS has a high familial prevalence, some reservations may arise due to a possible propagation of the problem i n the next generation of oocyte donation programs.