A randomized, double-blind clinical trial using fixed daily doses of 100 or 200 IU of recombinant FSH in ICSI cycles

The effect of 100 and 200 IU per day recombinant FSH (rFSH) on numbers of o ocytes retrieved and the total dose used in ovarian stimulation before intr acytoplasmic sperm injection was investigated in a double-blind, randomized multicentre trial. A total of 91 women was treated with a low-dose protoco l and 88 with a high-dose regimen at five centres, For each started cycle, significantly more oocytes were retrieved in the 200 IU group than in 100 I U group (12.0 versus 5.7, P < 0.001); total rFSH consumption was 1121 and 1 875 IU in the low- and high-dose groups respectively. Significant variation s were noted between centres with regard to numbers of oocytes collected pe r started cycle, ranging from 2.8 to 7.2 in the 100 IU group and from 9.0 t o 19.1 in the high-dose group. Exploratory analyses of secondary outcomes s uggested there were no differences in vital pregnancy rates per started cyc le (19.2 versus 16.9%) and per embryo transfer (26.2 versus 19.3%) in the l ow- and high dose groups respectively. There were four hospitalizations due to ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, all in the 200 IU group.