Table 5.
Overview of recent studies on intrauterine hCG infusion
| Study | No. of ETs and patients | Maternal Age (Mean) | Type and Day of ET | hCG infusion/ hCG source | IR | cPR | LBR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mansour et al., 2011 [19] | 212 ETs in first IVF/ICSI cycle (male factor) | Control: 28.3a hCG: 28.4a | Fresh Day 2 or 3 | 500 IU purified urinary hCG (IBSA) 7 min prior ET | Control: 29.5 % hCG: 41.6 % | Control: 60 % hCG: 75 % | |
| Rebolloso et al., 2013 [22] | 121 ETs IVF/ICSI cycles (38 in hCG group) | n.d. | n.d. Day 3 (n = 79) Day 5 (n = 42) | 500 IU urinary hCG (n.d.) 7 min before ET | Control: 17.5 % hCG: 17.7 % | Control: 26.3 % hCG: 26.5 % | |
| Zarei et al., 2014 [20] | 182 ETs in first IVF/ICSI cycle | Control: 31.3a hCG: 29.9a | Fresh Day 3 | 250 μg rhCG (Ovitrelle) (equivalent to 6,500 IU) 12 min prior ET | Control: 22.4 % hCG: 36.9 % | Control 18.4 % hCG: 32.1 % | |
| Santibañez et al., 2014 [21] | 210 IVF and ICSI cycles including donor and autologous ETs | Control: 37.3a hCG: 36.4a | Fresh and frozen Day 3 | 500 IU purified urinary hCG (Choragon) 4 min prior ET | Control: 33.0 % hCG: 50.4 % | ||
| Riboldi et al., 2013 [12] | 99 ETs in women >35a, > 2 IVF attempts | Control: 39.2a hCG: 39.2a | Frozen Blastocysts Day (n.d.) | 500 IU rhCG (n.d.) 6 hours prior ET | Control: 36.1 % hCG 39.3 % | ||
| Hong et al., 2014 [27] | 300 ETs with or without PGS | Control: 35.1a hCG: 35.0a | Fresh and frozen Day 6 | 500 IU urinary hCG (Novarel) 3 min prior ET | Control: 48.1 % hCG: 44.2 % | Control: 58.8 % hCG: 52.0 % | |
| Our results | 182 ETs in women ≤43a without RIF | Control: 35.5a hCG: 36.1a All: 35.8a | Fresh Day 5 | 500 IU urinary hCG (Pregnyl) 2 days prior ET | Top Blastocysts Control: 42.1 % hCG: 40.0 % Non-top Blastocysts Control 15.6 % hCG 15.9 % | Top Blastocysts Control: 57.1 % hCG: 52.1 % Non-top Blastocysts Control: 20.5 % hCG: 19.5 % | Top Blastocysts Control: 53.1 % hCG: 50.0 % Non-top Blastocysts Control: 18.2 % hCG: 17.1 % |
| Our results | 1004 ETs in women ≤43a without RIF | Control: 36.7a hCG: 37.1a All: 36.9a | Fresh Day 5 | 500 IU urinary hCG (Pregnyl) 3 min prior ET | Top Blastocysts Control: 42.4 % hCG: 44.9 % Non-top Blastocysts Control: 27.1 % hCG: 21.9 % | Top Blastocysts Control: 54.8 % hCG: 59.2 % Non-top Blastocysts Control: 40.8 % hCG: 33.1 % | Top Blastocysts Control: 48.4 % hCG 53.3 % Non-top Blastocysts Control: 35.0 % hCG: 28.7 % |
a: years; cPR: clinical pregnancy rate; IR: implantation rate; LBR: live birth rate; n.d.: not defined; RIF: recurrent implantation failure
Summary of different studies analyzing the putative benefit of intrauterine hCG supplementation in correlation to the IVF outcome (IR, cPR and LBR)