Purpose
Besides waning ovarian function with advancing age, the question of a uterine senescence factor has been proposed as a cause of decreased fecundity. The replacement of oocytes from younger donors into older recipients allows further investigation into the aging endometrium.
Results
The pregnancy rate was considerably lower, 8.5% in recipients in ovarian failure who were ⩾ 40 years old (n =23) compared to younger recipients, <40 years of age (n =55), who were also in ovarian failure, which would support the uterine senescence theory.
Conclusion
The endometrial factor may be manifested by failure to generate a critical endometrial thickness of 10 mm by sonography in 61% of the older group, compared to only 29% of the younger group. Future studies should address methods of improving the endometrial thickness in the older group, to determine if improved pregnancy rates will occur and to evaluate whether increasing luteal support with extra progesterone may also improve pregnancy rates.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Harrison KL, Breen TM, Hennessey MJ, Hynes MJ, Keeping JD, Kilvert GT, DeAmbrosis PJW, Molloy D: Patient age and success in a human IVF programme. Aust NZ J Obstet Gynecol 1989;29:326–328
Edwards RG, Morcos S, Macnamee M, Balmaceda JP, Walters DE, Asch R: High fecundity of amenorrheic women in embryo-transfer programmes. Lancet 1991;338:292–294
Devroey P, Smith J, Camus M, Wisanto A, Deschacht J, Van Vaesberghe L, Van Streiteghem AC: Synchronization of donor's and recipient's cycles with GnRH analogues in an oocyte donation program. Hum Reprod 1989;4:270–274
Blankstein J, Quigley MM, Schover LR, Reis J, Kanoti G, Collins RL: Oocyte donation using matched anonymous donors.In Proceedings of the 45th Annual Meeting of the American Fertility Society, 1989 Abstracts of the Scientific Paper and Poster Sessions, (Poster Session-Clinical Assisted Reproductive Technology), p 201 (abstr)
Sauer MV, Paulson RJ, Lobo RA: Simultaneous establishment of pregnancies in two ovarian failure patients using one oocyte donor. Fertil Steril 1989;52:1072–1073
Check JH, Nowroozi K, Chase J: Comparison of pregnancy rates following IVF-ET between donors and recipients in a donor oocyte program. J Assis Reprod Genetics 1992;9:248–250
Check JH, Nowroozi K, Barnea ER, Shaw KJ, Sauer MV: Successful delivery after the age 50: A report of two cases as a result of oocyte donation. Obstet Gynecol 1992;81:835–836
Romeu A, Muasher SS, Acosta AA, Veeck LL, Diaz J, Jones GS, Jones HW, Jr, Rosenwaks Z: Results of IVF attempts in women 40 years of age and older, The Norfolk experience. Fertil Steril 1987;47:130–136
Sauer MV, Paulson RJ, Lobo RA: A preliminary report on oocyte donation extending reproductive potential to women over 40. N Engl J Med 1990;323:1157–1160
Sauer MV, Paulson RJ, Lobo RA: Reversing the natural decline in human fertility. JAMA 1992;268:1275–1279
Check JH, Nowroozi K, Choe J, Dietterich C: Influence of endometrial thickness and echo patterns on pregnancy rates during in vitro fertilization. Fertil Steril 1991;56:1173–1175
Meldrum DR, Wisot A, Hamilton F, Gutlay AL, Kempton W, Huynh D: Routine pituitary suppression with leuprolide before ovarian stimulation for oocyte retrieval. Fertil Steril 1989;51:455–459
Tulandi T, Arrouet GH, McInnes RA: Infertility in women over the age of 36. Fertil Steril 1981;35:611–614
Talbert GB: Effect of maternal age on the reproductive capacity. Am J Obstet Gynecol 1968;102:451–477
Talbert GB: Effect of aging of the ovaries and female gametes on reproductive capacity.In The Aging Reproductive System, EL Schneider (ed). New York, Raven Press, 1978, pp 59–65
Federation CECOS, Schwartz D, Mayauk MJ: Female fecundity as a function of age: Results of artificial insemination. N Engl J Med 1982;306:404–406
Shamma F, Haj-Hassan L, Shamma B, DeCherney A, Lavy G: Effect of age and leuprolide on embryo quality and uterine receptivity. Assist Reprod Rev 1992;2:78–81
Check JH, Nowroozi K, Choe J, Lurie D, Dietterich C: The effect of endometrial thickness and echo pattern on in vitro fertilization outcome in donor oocyte-embryo transfer cycle. Fertil Steril 1993;59:72–75
Han Z, Kokkones CC, Roth GS: Effect of aging on population of estrogen receptor-containing cells in the rat uterus. Exp Cell Res 1989;180:23
Meldrum DR, Mar B, Stubbs C, Wisot A, Yeo L, Hamilton F: Oocyte donation reverses the reproductive decline in women over age 40 by correcting deficiencies of oocyte quality and endometrial receptivity. In Proceedings of the 40th Annual Meeting of the Pacific Coast Fertility Society, 1992, p A10 (abstr)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Check, J.H., Ali Askari, H., Choe, J. et al. The effect of the age of the recipients on pregnancy rates following donor-oocyte replacement. J Assist Reprod Genet 10, 137–140 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01207736
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01207736