Authors: Sabrina A Gerkowicz MD, Salatnay Henriquez MD, Michael Saad-Naguib MD,George Attia MD.
Objective: To examine the effect of growth hormone (GH) on in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycle outcome in patients with poor ovarian response (POR) as defined by the ESHRE Bologna criteria.
Materials and Methods: Ninety-nine patients with POR undergoing a total of 117 IVF cycles using gonadotropinreleasing hormone (GnRH) antagonist protocol from January 2012 through October 2016 in a single-institution were eligible and included in our study. Forty patients (50 cycles) received GH (5 IUI/day), and were compared to a control group of 59 patients (67 cycles) matched in age and FSH who did not receive GH. Primary outcomes were ongoing clinical pregnancy rate and pregnancy outcome. Statistical analysis was performed using chi-squared and student t-tests.
Results: There was no statistical difference between the two groups regarding the peak estradiol level, percentage of mature oocytes, fertilization rate, blastocyst formation rate, number of embryos transferred, or cancellation rate. There was a significantly shorter duration of stimulation and higher number of oocytes retrieved in the GH group compared to controls (p<0.05 and p<0.03; respectively) and a statistically significant difference in the percentage of pregnancy rate; 30% for GH group vs. 18% for the control (p<0.05).
Conclusions: GH could improve pregnancy rate in patients with POR.
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