Ovarian response to repeated controlled stimulation in in-vitro fertilization cycles in patients with ovarian endometriosis

M Al-Azemi, Majedah Al‐Azemi, A L Bernal, Andrés López Bernal, Jo Steele, J Steele, I Gramsbergen, Isabelle Gramsbergen, D Barlow, David H. Barlow, Stephen Kennedy, S Kennedy
Human Reproduction · 2000 · vol. 15(1) , pp. 72–75 · doi:10.1093/humrep/15.1.72 · PMID:10611191 · W2127993409
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Women with ovarian endometriosis showed a poorer ovarian response and required more FSH in repeated IVF cycles, yet achieved similar cumulative pregnancy and live birth rates as women with tubal infertility.

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Abstract

In-vitro fertilization (IVF) is an effective infertility treatment for women with endometriosis, but most women need to undergo several cycles of treatment to become pregnant. This case-control study was designed to assess how consistently women with ovarian endometriosis respond to ovarian stimulation in consecutive treatment cycles compared to women with tubal infertility. We compared outcome measures in 40 women with a history of surgically confirmed ovarian endometriosis and 80 women with tubal infertility, all of whom had at least three IVF treatment cycles. The groups were matched for age and early follicular follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) concentration at their first IVF cycle. Outcome measures included number of follicles, number of oocytes, peak oestradiol concentration and number of FSH ampoules required per follicle. Cumulative pregnancy and live birth rates were calculated in both groups. The ovarian endometriosis group had a significantly poorer ovarian response and required significantly more ampoules of FSH per cycle, a difference that became greater with each subsequent cycle. However, cumulative pregnancy (63.3 versus 62.6% by fifth cycle) and live birth (46.8 versus 50.9% by fifth cycle) rates were similar in both groups. In conclusion, despite decreased ovarian response to FSH, ovarian endometriosis does not decrease the chances of successful IVF treatment.

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Condition tags

endometriosisinfertility

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Fertilization in Vitro Infertility, Female Ovarian Diseases Ovulation Induction Adult Case-Control Studies Cell Count Chorionic Gonadotropin Chorionic Gonadotropin Embryo Transfer Endometriosis Estradiol Estradiol Fallopian Tube Diseases Fallopian Tube Diseases Female Follicle Stimulating Hormone Follicle Stimulating Hormone Humans

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Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

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