Table 1.
Demographics and baseline, end-of-stimulation, oocyte and embryo data of the women grouped by the AMH concentration at start of stimulation (quartiles 1–3 versus quartile 4).
| Variable | Long GnRH agonist protocol |
GnRH antagonist protocol |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMH Q1-Q3 ≤75th (≤5.2 ng/ml) (n = 468) |
AMH Q4 >75th (>5.2 ng/ml) (n = 155) |
p Value* | AMH Q1-Q3 ≤75th (≤5.2 ng/ml) (n = 561) |
AMH Q4 >75th (>5.2 ng/ml) (n = 188) |
p Value* | |
| Clinical characteristics | ||||||
| Age (years) | 31 (29, 34) | 30 (28, 32) | <0.001 | 31 (29, 33) | 30 (28, 32) | <0.001 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 21.9 (20.3, 24.0) | 21.3 (20.1, 23.5) | 0.113 | 21.9 (20.3, 23.8) | 21.8 (20.5, 23.5) | 0.868 |
| Cycle length (days) | 28 (28, 29) | 29 (28, 30) | <0.001 | 28 (28, 29) | 29 (28, 30) | <0.001 |
| First treatment cycle, n (%) | 327 (70%) | 104 (67%) | 0.517 | 427 (76%) | 134 (71%) | 0.186 |
| Day 1 (before start of stimulation) | ||||||
| Ovarian volume (ml) | 8.5 (6.0, 11.8) | 10.4 (7.7, 14.3) | <0.001 | 10.6 (8.0, 14.2) | 13.2 (9.6, 16.8) | <0.001 |
| AFC (n) | 10 (7, 14) | 11 (8, 18) | <0.001 | 14 (11, 17) | 18 (15, 22) | <0.001 |
| AMH (ng/ml) | 3.0 (2.1, 4.0) | 7.0 (5.8, 8.5) | <0.001 | 2.4 (1.4, 3.6) | 6.9 (6.0, 8.7) | <0.001 |
| FSH (IU/l) | 3.8 (3.0, 4.9) | 3.4 (2.7, 4.4) | 0.003 | 7.2 (6.2, 8.5) | 6.5 (5.7, 7.6) | <0.001 |
| End-of-stimulation | ||||||
| Estradiol (nmol/l) | 5.5 (4.0, 7.3) | 8.5 (6.2, 13.0) | <0.001 | 5.7 (4.1, 8.2) | 8.7 (6.3, 13.3) | <0.001 |
| Progesterone (nmol/l) | 2.6 (2.0, 3.4) | 3.2 (2.4, 3.9) | <0.001 | 2.5 (1.9, 3.2) | 2.9 (2.1, 3.8) | <0.001 |
| Progesterone/estradiol ratio | 0.46 (0.35, 0.63) | 0.36 (0.24, 0.49) | <0.001 | 0.42 (0.30, 0.60) | 0.32 (0.21, 0.44) | <0.001 |
| Follicles ≥12 mm (n) | 10 (8, 13) | 15 (12, 19) | <0.001 | 10 (7, 13) | 15 (11, 18) | <0.001 |
| Endometrial thickness (mm) | 11 (9, 12) | 11 (10, 12) | 0.079 | 10 (9, 12) | 11 (10, 12) | 0.039 |
| Endometrial echogenicity pattern (hypo, iso, hyper) (%) | 39, 49, 13 | 34, 51, 15 | 0.544 | 40, 51, 9 | 36, 54, 10 | 0.668 |
| Cycle cancellation for ovarian hyper-response, n (%) | 2 (<1%) | 7 (5%) | 0.001 | 1 (<1%) | 1 (<1%) | 0.439 |
| Early OHSS (moderate/severe), n (%) | 1 (<1%) | 7 (5%) | <0.001 | 4 (<1%) | 8 (4%) | 0.003 |
| Intervention for ovarian hyper-response, n (%) | 2 (<1%) | 11 (7%) | <0.001 | 16 (3%) | 19 (10%) | <0.001 |
| Oocyte retrieval | ||||||
| Women with oocyte retrieval, n (%) | 446 (95%) | 145 (94%) | 0.392 | 537 (96%) | 185 (98%) | 0.088 |
| Oocytes retrieved (n) | 9 (6, 12) | 14 (10, 18) | <0.001 | 8 (5, 11) | 12 (9, 17) | <0.001 |
| Women with ≥15 oocytes retrieved, n (%) | 76 (16%) | 65 (42%) | <0.001 | 63 (11%) | 76 (40%) | <0.001 |
| Fertilisation and embryo data | ||||||
| Fertilisation rate (%) | 60 (33, 75) | 52 (29, 70) | 0.091 | 60 (43, 75) | 58 (42, 71) | 0.193 |
| Embryos on day 3 (n) | 2 (1, 5) | 3 (2, 6) | 0.029 | |||
| Women with top-quality embryo(s) on day 3, n (%)† | 199 (45%) | 73 (50%) | 0.229 | |||
| Blastocysts on day 5 (n) | 2 (1, 4) | 3 (1, 6) | <0.001 | |||
| Women with good-quality blastocyst(s) on day 5, n (%)‡ | 266 (50%) | 106 (57%) | 0.068 | |||
| Women with transfer, n (%)¶ | 397 (89%) | 122 (84%) | 0.119 | 462 (86%) | 159 (86%) | 0.976 |
Values are median (IQR) unless otherwise indicated.
*
Wilcoxon test (continous data); Chi-Square test or Fisher’s exact test (categorial data).
†
Top-quality embryos were defined as 4–5 cells on day 2, ≥7 cells on day 3, equally-sized blastomeres and ≤20% fragmentation on day 3 and no multinucleation.
‡
Good-quality blastocysts were defined as blastocysts with expansion and hatching score ≥4 and with inner cell mass and trophectoderm grades of A or B, using the definitions described by Gardner & Schoolcraft [23].
¶
Among women with oocytes retrieved.