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Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology
Published in: Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology 1/2020

01-12-2020 | GnRH Agonists | Research

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist combined with hormone replacement therapy does not improve the reproductive outcomes of frozen-thawed embryo transfer cycle in elderly patients: a retrospective study

Authors: Mei Dong, Li Sun, Li Huang, Yanhong Yi, Xiqian Zhang, Ying Tan, Ge Song, Liling Liu, Fu Wei, Fenghua Liu

Published in: Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology | Issue 1/2020

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Abstract

Background

With the rapid development of whole embryo freezing technology, more and more frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FET) was used in assisted reproductive technology. However, the best FET program for elderly women has not been finalized. We intended to explore the reproductive outcomes of traditional hormone replacement treatment and a gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRHa) combined with hormone replacement treatment in the frozen-thawed embryo transfer cycle of elderly patients.

Methods

In this retrospective analysis, we analyzed 1264 elderly patients (aged 38 years or older) who underwent FET at three reproductive centers between 2015 and 2017. According to the endometrial preparation protocol, we divided the patients into a GnRHa combined with hormone replacement treatment (GnRHa-HRT) group and traditional hormone replacement treatment (HRT) group. The clinical pregnancy, ongoing pregnancy, live birth, and abortion rates were compared between groups.

Results

One-way analysis of variance of the two groups revealed no significant difference in the clinical (33.58% vs. 37.15%) and ongoing pregnancy rates (19.40% vs. 25.10%) between the GnRHa-HRT and HRT groups. The live birth rate (17.54% vs. 24.10% p = 0.0229) of the GnRHa-HRT group was lower than that of the HRT group, whereas the abortion rate (45.56% vs. 32.97% p = 0.0252) was higher than that of the HRT group. However, multivariate analysis showed no significant difference in the live birth rate (p = 0.1333) or abortion rate (p = 0.1881) between the GnRHa-HRT and HRT groups. The number of embryos transferred, level of the embryo, and age and ovarian reserve of the patient significantly affected final reproductive outcomes.

Conclusion

A GnRH agonist combined with hormone replacement therapy did not improve the reproductive outcomes of frozen-thawed embryo cycles in elderly patients.
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Metadata
Title
Gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist combined with hormone replacement therapy does not improve the reproductive outcomes of frozen-thawed embryo transfer cycle in elderly patients: a retrospective study
Authors
Mei Dong
Li Sun
Li Huang
Yanhong Yi
Xiqian Zhang
Ying Tan
Ge Song
Liling Liu
Fu Wei
Fenghua Liu
Publication date
01-12-2020
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology / Issue 1/2020
Electronic ISSN: 1477-7827
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12958-020-00626-8

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