OUTCOME OF TRANSFER OF FROZEN-THAWED EMBRYOS IN ARTIFICIALLY PREPARED CYCLES WITH OR WITHOUT PRIOR GONADOTROPHIN RELEASING HORMONE AGONIST TREATMENT

Abstract

INTRODUCTION This study was performed to compare the outcome of frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FER) with and without the prior pituitary down regulation using gonadotrophin releasing hormone agonist (GnRHa). MATERIAL AND METHODS At a tertiary care reproductive heaitn centre m Sn Lanka 107 consecutive FER cycles were studied. The protocols used were either the pituitary suppression with GnRHa followed by hormone replacement (group A) for endometrial preparation or the hormone replacement without prior pituitary suppression (group B). Patients were tested for serum B hCG 14 days following the embryo transfer. If the pregnancy test was positive, an ultrasonography was performed to diagnose a clinical pregnancy. The results were analysed by the Statistical Package for Social Sciences for windows (SPSS) version 15.0. RESULTS The group A (n= 44) and group B (n=63) were similar in age at embryo transfer (34.7± 5.25 and 36.57 ±4.15 years), number of embryos transferred per patient (2.27 ± 1 and 2.08 ±1.1), the day of embryo transfer (3.27± 0.58 and 3.21± 0.51 days) and endometrial thickness on day 11 of the cycle (9.92 ±1.8 and 9.4 ±1.9 mm) .The pregnancy test was positive in 20% (n=8) women in group A and 29.4% (n=15) women in group B, which was not statistically significant (p= 0.305). The clinical pregnancy rates in group A and group B were 15.3% (n=6) and 28.5% (n=14) respectively, which was not statistically significant (p=0.143). CONCLUSIONS Transferring frozen-thawed embryos with or without pituitary down regulation using GnRHa yields similar results.