RECRUITMENT OF FOLLICLES BY RECOMBINANT HUMAN FOLLICLE-STIMULATING-HORMONE COMMENCING IN THE LUTEAL-PHASE OF THE OVARIAN CYCLE

Objective: To investigate, in patients who previously had a suboptimal ovarian stimulation cycle, the benefit of starting ovarian stimulatio n before the onset of menses. Design: Prospective, randomized, control led study. Setting: A tertiary referral center for infertility treatme nt. Patient(s): Forty patients undergoing IVF or GIFT from whom only 3 -6 oocytes were retrieved in their last cycle. Intervention(s): Recomb inant human FSH was administered before the onset of the menstrual per iod (experimental group) or in the early follicular phase after the on set of menses (control group). Main Outcome Measure(s): The number of oocytes retrieved. Result(s): Patients in the experimental group were ready for oocyte retrieval on menstrual cycle day 11 instead of cycle day 14. The number of oocytes retrieved was not significantly differen t between the two groups. Conclusion(s): Poor responders do not benefi t from commencing recombinant human FSH therapy in the luteal phase. ( C) 1998 by American Society for Reproductive Medicine.