Results of IVF in the treatment of polycystic ovary disease.

ABSTRACT

Sixteen patients with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCO) were treated by in-vitro fertilization (IVF), 11 suffered from definitive tubal infertility and five had previously undergone multiple unsuccessful attempts at ovulation induction after conventional therapy. They were randomly allocated into two groups A1 (six patients) treated with 'pure FSH' and A2 (10 patients) whose ovarian stimulation was performed by a combination of LHRH agonist and pure FSH. More oocytes were recovered in group A1 (7.5 +/- 2.2) and group A2 (10.3 +/- 5.8) than in a control group (B) but this difference was not significant. There was no difference between groups A and B in the number of immature oocytes, the oocyte fertilization rate (60%) and the number of embryos replaced per patient (2.8). Four pregnancies were achieved in the six patients in group A1, 5/9 in group A2 and 3/6 in group B. One severe hyperstimulation was recorded in group A1 but this patient developed a pregnancy which was normal at term. This small study suggests that IVF may be a solution to the treatment of PCO resistant to clomiphene citrate and HMG treatment and that the combination of pure FSH with an analogue of LHRH (in a short protocol of 15 days) does not seem to have an advantage over FSH stimulation alone and does not reduce the frequency of hyperstimulation.