Influence of age, diagnosis, and cycle number on pregnancy rates with gonadotropin-induced controlled ovarian hyperstimulation and intrauterine insemination

Objective: To determine whether age, diagnosis, and cycle number influence cycle fecundity associated with gonadotropin-induced controlled ovarian hyperstimulation/IUI. Design: Retrospective analysis. Setting: The Center for Reproductive Medicine at the Brigham and Women's Hospital, a tertiary care academic medical center. Patient(s): Two hundred seventy-four women who underwent controlled ovarian hyperstimulation with gonadotropins and IUI. Intervention(s): Infertility treatment with gonadotropins and IUI. Main Outcome Measure(s): Pregnancy rates according to patient age, infertility diagnosis, and number of treatment cycles. Result(s): Pregnancy rates decreased with increasing patient age. The cumulative pregnancy rates varied greatly by diagnosis from 13% for patients with male factor infertility to 84% for patients with ovulatory factor infertility. Average cycle fecundity was considerably less varied by diagnosis. All pregnancies among patients with male factor infertility and tubal factor infertility were achieved during the first two cycles. Conclusion(s): There is a clear age-related decline in fecundity associated with gonadotropin-induced controlled ovarian hyperstimulation/IUI. Patients <40 years of age and those with male factor infertility or tubal factor infertility have a particularly poor prognosis. (Fertil Steril(R) 1999;72:500-4, (C) 1999 by American Society for Reproductive Medicine.).