PRETREATMENT WITH GONADOTROPIN-RELEASING-HORMONE (GNRH) ANALOG PRIOR TO IN-VITRO FERTILIZATION FOR PATIENTS WITH ENDOMETRIOSIS

To assess the effect of GnRH pretreatment prior to IVF-ET on fertilisa tion and pregnancy rates in patients with endometriosis compared with tubal infertility, a retrospective analysis of 228 cycles of tubal inf ertility cases (Group 1) and 92 cycles of endometriosis has been perfo rmed. Patients with endometriosis were classified by the revised AFS s coring system to two groups: 37 cycles of minimal and mild endometrios is (Group 2) and 55 cycles of moderate and severe endometriosis (Group 3). The GnRH analogue buserelin was used for pituitary desensitisatio n in all IVF cycles. Endometriosis patients have a minimum of 6 weeks GnRH treatment prior to superovulation therapy. Although the fertilisa tion rate per oocyte (51%) was significantly lower in Group 3 (P < 0.0 01), the percentage of cycles in which fertilisation occurred (86%, 78 %, 78%) and the pregnancy rates per embryo transfer (17.7%, 17.2%, 18. 6%) for Groups 1, 2 and 3, respectively, were not significantly differ ent. Pretreatment with GnRH analogues allows patients with endometrios is to achieve similar success rates to patients with tubal infertility alone.