MIDFOLLICULAR ANTICARDIOLIPIN AND ANTIPHOSPHATIDYLSERINE ANTIBODY-TITERS DO NOT CORRELATE WITH IN-VITRO FERTILIZATION OUTCOME

Objective: To determine the prevalence of anticardiolipin and antiphop hatidylserine antibodies in an IVF population and to cor relate their presence and specific isotype with IVF cycle outcome. Design: Retrospe ctive clinical study using stored midfollicular sera for determination of antibody status. Setting: University hospital infertility clinic. Patient(s): Women who underwent IVF treatment in 1991. Intervention(s) : Midfollicular sera were used to assess antibody status during the ti me of stimulation for IVF. Main Outcome Measure(s): Anticardiolipin an d antiphosphatidylserine antibody titers and biochemical or sonographi c documentation of IVF cycle outcome. Result(s): The overall prevalenc e of anticardiolipin and antiphosphatidylserine antibodies in IVF pati ents was 7.0% and 11.2%, respectively. There was no statistically sign ificant difference in the prevalence of these antibodies in the groups of patients with a biochemical pregnancy (0 for anticardiolipin and 2 .8% for antiphosphatidylserine), spontaneous miscarriage (11.4% for an ticardiolipin and 20% for antiphosphatidylserine), ongoing pregnancy ( 7.3% for anticardiolipin and 11.6% for antiphosphatidylserine), and pa tients who failed to conceive (7.2% for anticardiolipin and 10.8% for antiphosphatidylserine). There was no correlation between outcome and the antibody isotype expressed. Conclusion(s): Anticardiolipin and ant iphosphatidylserine antibodies are poorly predictive of the IVF cycle outcome. Routine testing of IVF patients for the presence of these ant ibodies is of limited clinical utility. (C) 1997 by American Society f or Reproductive Medicine.