The means (±SD) of various clinical parameters for clinical pregnancies, preclinical abortions and for non-conception cycles are presented in Table 1. Mean basal FSH (measured on cycle day 2–4) was 7.39 ± 2.6 IU/L (range 3.0–14). Mean duration of gonadotrophin (rFSH) administration was 10 ± 1.2 days (range 7–13) for the long protocol and 10 ± 1.4 days (range 7–14) for the GnRH-antagonist protocol. The mean peak E2 was 1174.7 ± 828.0 pg/mL (range 164–7196), and mean number of retrieved oocytes was 8.87 ± 6.09 (range 1–28). Only one case of severe OHSS was encountered. The mean number of pre-embryos replaced was 2.5 ± 0.8 (range 1–4). The clinical pregnancy rate per ET was 18.0% (OI +4 days), 21.5% (OI +5 days) and 43.3% (OI +7 days). Fourty-nine (21.0%) had a viable intra-uterine pregnancy at 8 weeks gestations, 27 (11.2%) had an abnormal pregnancy (preclinical abortion) and 163 (67.8%) failed to conceive. There was no influence of the method of fertilization (IVF or ICSI) on the outcome (clinical pregnancies p = 0.668, preclinical abortions p = 0.564 and non-conception cycles p = 0.583; χ2 test).
There were significant differences when related to the age of the patient (p = 0.005), the number of oocytes retrieved (p = 0.002), and number of fertilized oocytes (p 2 and P on the day of oocyte retrieval among the three groups. The use of a GnRHa long protocol or a GnRH antagonist protocol did not alter the hormonal profile dynamics, the E2/P ratio or clinical pregnancy rate.
Serum (luteal) hormonal parameters at different days of ET (OI +4 days, OI +5 days and OI +7 days) and derived E2/P ratio for clinical pregnancies, preclinical abortions, and non-pregnant cycles are summarized in Table 2. Women with clinical pregnancies had significant higher mean E2/P ratios on OI +4 days (p = 0.01), OI +5 days (p = 0.005) and OI +7 days (p = 0.0001) compared with those who had either a preclinical abortion or failed to conceive (Table 2). Interestingly, mean serum P was higher in women with preclinical abortions compared to clinical pregnancies or non-pregnant cycles, but it did not reach statistical significance.
To analyze the prognostic power of E2/P ratio as measured on OI +4 days, OI +5 days and OI +7 days with respect to clinical pregnancy, the AUCROC was determined with ROC analysis (Figure 1). The area under the curve suggests a relationship between E2/P ratio on OI +4 days (0.70; 95% CI = 0.60–0.80; p = 0.003), on OI +5 days (0.76; 95% CI = 0.64–0.88; p = 0.001) and on OI +7 days (0.85; 95% CI = 0.75–0.96; p
Answers to all your Biology Questions
