Pregnancy outcome is not affected by antiphospholipid antibody status in women referred for in vitro fertilization

Objective: To determine the prevalence of antiphospholipid (aPL) and anti-b eta 2 glycoprotein I (anti-beta 2-GPI) antibodies in women referred for IVF and to prospectively evaluate the effect of these antibodies on IVF outcom e. Design: Prospective observational study. Setting: A university hospital and IVF unit. Patient(s): Three hundred eighty consecutive women referred for IVF. Intervention(s): Blood samples taken before commencement of IVF cycles were tested for the presence of aPL (lupus anticoagulant [LA], anticardiolipin [aCL], and antiphosphatidyl serine antibodies [aPS]) and anti-beta 2-GPI an tibodies. Main Outcome Measure(s): Antibody prevalence, pregnancy rates, and live bir th rates. Result(s): Of the total 380 women, 89 tested persistently positive for aPL (23.4%). None of 176 women tested for IgG aPS antibodies had a positive tit er. Only 3.3% (11 of 329) tested positive for anti-beta 2-GPI antibodies. P regnancy rate, live birth rate, gestational age at delivery, and birth weig ht were not affected by aPL status. Conclusion(s): Although women referred for IVF have a high prevalence of aP L, these antibodies do not affect the outcome of treatment. Screening women undergoing IVF for aPL is not justified. (C) 2000 by American Society for Reproductive Medicine.