TITLE:
Preliminary Results of DHEA in Poor Responders in IVF
AUTHORS:
C. Sciard, J. Berthiller, A. Brosse, N. Rol Bartra, S. Hadj, A. Bordes, P. Du Mesnildot, J. Lornage, H. Lejeune, I. Plotton, B. Salle
KEYWORDS:
DHEA, IVF, Poor Responders
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology,
Vol.6 No.7,
June
8,
2016
ABSTRACT: Objective: Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) has been previously reported to improve
ovarian response in IVF for poor responders. Its effect remains uncertain. The purpose
of this study was to evaluate the effect of DHEA given during two years in our unit,
in order to build hypothesis for a future randomized controlled trial. Design: Cohort
of exposed and non-exposed DHEA study. Patient(s): 224 patients with AMH under 1.6
ng/ml undergoing IVF with a short antagonist protocol adding FSH and LH rec were
enrolled for 327 IVF cycles. 176 patients had been treated with DHEA before IVF,
and 151 had not. Intervention(s): None. Main Outcome Measure(s): Cancellation cycle
rate, amount of gonadotrophins used, estradiol level on day six of stimulation,
number of oocytes retrieved, metaphase II oocytes, blastocysts and frozen embryos,
clinical pregnancy rate and miscarriage rate. Results: The cancellation rate was
significantly higher in the group without DHEA (29.8% versus 13.1%, p = 0.002).
The amount of gonadotrophins used for stimulation, the estradiol level on day six
of stimulation, the number of oocytes retrieved, metaphase II oocytes, blastocysts,
frozen embryos and miscarriage rate were not different in both groups. The clinical
pregnancy rate per included patient in the DHEA group was 17.1% versus 8.6% in the
non-treated group (p = 0.02). Conclusion: DHEA appears to improve clinical pregnancy
rate by decreasing the cancellation rate.