Reduced developmental potential in oocytes from women with endometriosis

PURPOSE: To study retrospectively the outcome of intracytoplasmatic sperm injection (ICSI) in women with endometriosis compared with women with no known female infertility factor. METHODS: All couples treated with ICSI because of male infertility plus verified endometriosis (n = 26) and all couples treated with ICSI because of male infertility only (n = 125) during the period January 1995 to June 1999 were included. Data were collected from patient files and ICSI protocols. RESULTS: The time to complete down regulation was significantly longer (p = 0.0108), the dose of FSH significantly higher (0.0247), the day for oocyte pickup significantly later (p = 0.0091), and the cleavage rate of oocytes significantly lower (p = 0.0011) in women with endometriosis compared with controls. There was no significant difference in implantation rate or pregnancy rate between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: Women with endometriosis presented significantly reduced follicular response and oocyte cleavage rate, two mechanisms that might be related to a disturbed oogenesis.