High-response intrauterine insemination cycles converted to low-cost in vitro fertilization

Fatma Aletebi
Assisted Reproduction Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, King Abdulaziz University, Soliman Fakeeh Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Background: There is a trend to cancel intrauterine insemination (IUI) in women with a high response. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of low-cost in vitro fertilization (IVF) in high-response IUI cycles in comparison with conventional IVF.
Methods and materials: A total of 46 women were included in the study. Group A (study group) included 23 women with hyper-response to IUI cycles who were converted to IVF. They received oral letrozole 2.5 mg twice daily from days 3–7 of the menstrual cycle, along with 75 International Units (IU) of recombinant follicle-stimulating hormone on days 3 and 8. Group B (control group) underwent conventional IVF, and received downregulation with a gonadotrophin-releasing hormone agonist followed by stimulation with recombinant follicle-stimulating hormone 150–300 IU/day. Ovulation was triggered by 10,000 IU of human chorionic gonadotrophin, followed by IVF and embryo transfer. The primary outcome measure analyzed was pregnancy rates in both groups.
Results: The study group received a significantly lower (P = 0.001) total dose of follicle-stimulating hormone and had significantly (P = 0.002) decreased levels of terminal estradiol. Although the pregnancy rate (30.43% in the study group versus 39.13% in the conventional group) per stimulated cycle was higher in the conventional IVF group, the miscarriage rate (study group 4.34% versus conventional group 13.04%) was also higher, and hence the take-home baby rate (study group 26.08% versus conventional group 30.43%) was more or less similar in both the groups.
Conclusion: IVF can be offered to women having a high response to IUI cycles with good pregnancy rates and at low cost compared with use of a conventional protocol, and therefore can be considered more patient-friendly in selected cases.

Keywords: low-cost, mild stimulation, intrauterine insemination, in vitro fertilization