IN-VITRO FERTILIZATION IN WOMEN OVER 40 YEARS OF AGE - A STUDY ON RETROSPECTIVE DATA FOR 8 YEARS

A retrospective (1987-1995), single-center study was conducted to eval uate the IVF success rate in women who were 40 years and over. Control s were randomly selected patients who were 35 years or younger from th e same center. The main evaluation criterion was the number of pregnan cies initiated in each group and especially the number of full-term de liveries (take-home baby rate). Differences were considered as statist ically significant for P less than or equal to 0.05. A total of 194 IV F attempts in women 40 years or over were compared to 209 attempts in the control group. The mean ages of the two groups was 40.9 vs. 29.3 y ears (P<0.001). The duration of follicle stimulation was 12.9 vs. 13.1 days (not significant, NS). The number of ampules was 29.6 vs. 29.2 ( NS). Serum estradiol levels were 1435.8 vs. 2020.8 pg/ml (P<0.001). Oo cytes: 4.6 vs. 7.3 (P<0.001). Embryos: 1.7 vs. 2.8 (P<0.0001). Full-te rm deliveries: 3.6 vs. 13.4% (P<0.05). Better oocyte retrieval was ach ieved (5.3 vs. 3.3; P=0.001) in the group that was 40 years or over, b ut there were no differences in the rate of embryo transfer (1.9 vs. 1 .3; NS) and full-term deliveries (4.2 vs. 2.9%) in a long protocol com pared to a short one. The results of the study are similar to those fo und in the literature. Indications for standard IVF without oocyte don ation should be carefully thought out and couples should be warned of the low success rate. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.