Effects
of different stages of endometriosis on the outcome
of in vitro fertilization
Researchers at McGill University
in Montreal, Canada, suggest that the presence of endometriosis,
including stages III and IV, does not affect IVF outcome.
This study was retrospective, with matched case-controls,
set in an academic tertiary referral centre. The study
group consisted of 87 women with laparoscopically diagnosed
endometriosis, and the control group consisted of 87
age-matched women undergoing IVF for different reasons.
The primary outcomes were duration of stimulation,
total gonadotropin dose requirement, peak serum estradiol
level, total number of oocytes retrieved, fertilization
rate, embryo quality, implantation rate, and clinical
pregnancy rate. The effect of obliteration of the cul-de-sac
by endometriosis was also evaluated.
Women with endometriosis required significantly higher
gonadotropin doses than women in the control group (P
< 0.01). The fertilization rate was significantly
lower for women with endometriosis (P < 0.05), although
there was no difference in embryo quality or in the
number of embryos transferred.
In patients with an obliterated cul-de-sac, fewer oocytes
were retrieved than in patients in the control group
(P < 0.01).
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