Retrospective pilot study.
University-based tertiary care center.
Poor ovarian responders fulfilling the Bologna criteria developed by European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology Consensus Group.
Corifollitropin alfa (150 ¦Ìg) followed by 300 IU rFSH in a GnRH antagonist protocol.
Endocrinologic profile and ongoing pregnancy rates.
Among 43 women treated with corifollitropin alfa, mean E2 levels showed an increasing pattern during the follicular phase, reaching 825 ng/L on the day of hCG administration, whereas FSH values showed a marked increase during the first 5 days, reaching a mean value of 35 IU/L and remaining above 20 IU/L during the late follicular phase. Cycle cancellation rate was 32.6 % and embryo transfer rate 53.3 % . Five patients (11.7 % ) had a positive hCG test and three (7 % ) had an ongoing pregnancy. Ongoing pregnancy rates were 11.1 % per oocyte retrieval and 13 % per embryo transfer. Ongoing pregnancy rates per patient did not significantly differ compared with a cohort of patients treated during 2011 with the standard protocol for poor responders in our center (short agonist-hMG) (7 % vs. 6.3 % ).
Treatment of poor ovarian responders, as described by the Bologna criteria, with corifollitropin alfa in a GnRH antagonist protocol results in low pregnancy rates, similarly to conventional stimulation with a short agonist protocol.