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Effects and safety of GnRH-a as a luteal support in women undertaking assisted reproductive technology procedures: follow-up results for pregnancy, delivery, and neonates

  • Gynecologic Endocrinology and Reproductive Medicine
  • Published:
Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

To investigate the effects and safety of gonadotropin releasing hormone analogue (GnRH-a) as an addition to progesterone luteal support in women who underwent in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection-embryo transfer (IVF/ICSI-ET) and achieved a clinical pregnancy.

Methods

A retrospective analysis was conducted on 214 patients who underwent IVF/ICSI-ET procedures with standard long mid-luteal protocol, of which 123 received GnRH-a-free protocol and 91 received GnRH-a-added protocol. The patients’ pregnancy and delivery course, and their neonates’ status at birth and growth/development after birth were statistically compared.

Results

There was no significant difference between both study groups regarding embryo risks and maternal complications during early pregnancy. as well as fetal risks during the middle and late stages and neonate risks during birth, except that the twin pregnancies of the GnRH-a-added group had a considerably greater male/female ratio, and a significantly higher rate of premature delivery and low birth weight than those of the GnRH-a-free group. In addition, there was no significant difference in neonate risks within 2 years after birth between both cohorts.

Conclusion

With precautions taken to control the number of implanted embryos and reduce the incidence of twinning pregnancy, the addition of GnRH-a to luteal support is relatively safe and effective.

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Author contribution

WZ: Project management, Data Collection, Manuscript writing. YZ: Data collection, Data analysis. YP: Manuscript writing. FX: Data analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Reproductive Medicine Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, No. 188 Shizi Street, Canglang District, Suzhou, 215006, Jiangsu, China

    Weiqin Zhou, Yanyan Zhuang, Yanping Pan & Fei Xia

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  1. Weiqin Zhou
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  2. Yanyan Zhuang
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  3. Yanping Pan
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  4. Fei Xia
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Weiqin Zhou.

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Funding

This study was funded by the Maternal and Child Health Research Program of Jiangsu Province (No. F201547).

Conflict of interest

All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest regarding this study.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was waived due to the retrospective nature of this study.

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Zhou, W., Zhuang, Y., Pan, Y. et al. Effects and safety of GnRH-a as a luteal support in women undertaking assisted reproductive technology procedures: follow-up results for pregnancy, delivery, and neonates. Arch Gynecol Obstet 295, 1269–1275 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-017-4353-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-017-4353-5

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