Table 1.
General characteristics and clinical outcomes of patients with different endometrial preparation protocols
| Variable | GnRHa + HRT (N = 389) |
HRT (N = 950) |
NC (N = 74) |
P value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maternal age at oocyte retrieval, y | 31.0 (29.0, 35.0) | 31.0 (29.0, 35.0) | 32.0 (30.0, 35.0) | 0.2013 |
| Body mass index, kg/m2 | 20.8 (19.4, 22.5) | 20.8 (19.5, 22.8) | 21.1 (19.6, 22.6) | 0.7423 |
| Baseline FSH, mIU/mL | 7.8 (6.6, 9.6) | 7.8 (6.5, 9.0) | 7.9 (6.4, 9.8) | 0.6653 |
| Antral follicle count (AFC) | 8.0 (5.0, 11.0) | 9.0 (6.0, 14.0) | 7.0 (4.0, 13.0) | <.0013* |
| AMH level, ng/ml | 2.4 (1.4, 4.5) | 2.8 (1.7, 5.3) | 2.1 (1.2, 4.0) | <.0013* |
| Duration of infertility, years | 2.0 (1.5, 4.0) | 3.0 (2.0, 4.0) | 3.0 (2.0, 5.0) | 0.0063* |
| Infertility diagnosis | 0.9691 | |||
| Primary infertility, n (%) | 257 (66.1%) | 629 (66.2%) | 50 (67.6%) | |
| Secondary infertility, n (%) | 132 (33.9%) | 321 (33.8%) | 24 (32.4%) | |
| Infertility etiology, n (%) | ||||
| Male factor | 64 (16.5%) | 167 (17.6%) | 19 (25.7%) | 0.1611 |
| Female factors | ||||
| Tubal factor | 189 (48.6%) | 472 (49.7%) | 35 (47.3%) | 0.8811 |
| Ovulatory | 3 (0.8%) | 42 (4.4%) | 1 (1.4%) | 0.0012* |
| Diminished ovarian reserve | 115 (29.6%) | 218 (22.9%) | 19 (25.7%) | 0.0391* |
| Uterine malformation | 105 (27.0%) | 187 (19.7%) | 21 (28.4%) | 0.0061* |
| Unexplained/Other | 0 (0.0%) | 6 (0.6%) | 1 (1.4%) | 0.1152 |
| Ovarian stimulation protocols, n (%) | <.0011* | |||
| Long GnRH-a | 43 (11.1%) | 165 (17.4%) | 12 (16.2%) | |
| GnRH-a ultra-long | 98 (25.2%) | 342 (36.0%) | 25 (33.8%) | |
| GnRH antagonist | 146 (37.5%) | 198 (20.8%) | 16 (21.6%) | |
| Other protocols | 102 (26.2%) | 245 (25.8%) | 21 (28.4%) | |
| Duration of stimulation, days | 10.0 (9.0, 11.0) | 10.0 (9.0, 11.0) | 10.0 (9.0, 11.0) | 0.0183* |
| Gonadotropin dose, IU | 2625.0 (2100.0, 3150.0) | 2475.0 (1912.5, 3000.0) | 2625.0 (2137.5, 3150.0) | 0.0113* |
| No. of oocytes retrieved | 9.0 (5.0, 14.0) | 10.0 (6.0, 16.0) | 8.0 (5.0, 14.0) | 0.0033* |
| No. of MII oocytes | 7.0 (4.0, 12.0) | 9.0 (5.0, 14.0) | 7.0 (4.0, 12.0) | 0.0013* |
| Oocyte maturation rate | 0.9 (0.8, 1.0) | 0.9 (0.8, 1.0) | 0.9 (0.8, 1.0) | 0.4783 |
| Fertilization, n (%) | 0.0701 | |||
| IVF | 105 (27.0%) | 199 (20.9%) | 23 (31.1%) | |
| ICSI | 266 (68.4%) | 698 (73.5%) | 48 (64.9%) | |
| Rescue ICSI | 18 (4.6%) | 53 (5.6%) | 3 (4.1%) | |
| The number of 2PN | 5.0 (3.0, 9.0) | 6.0 (4.0, 10.0) | 5.0 (3.0, 10.0) | 0.0123* |
| Normal fertilization rate | 0.7 (0.5, 0.9) | 0.7 (0.5, 0.8) | 0.7 (0.5, 0.9) | 0.1873 |
| Blastocyst formation rate | 0.8 (0.5, 1.0) | 0.7 (0.5, 0.9) | 0.7 (0.5, 1.0) | 0.0253* |
| Maternal age at FET, y | 32.0 (29.0, 35.0) | 32.0 (29.0, 35.0) | 33.0 (31.0, 35.0) | 0.0633 |
| Interval between FET and IVF/ICSI, days | 125.0 (85.0, 248.0) | 91.0 (60.0, 172.0) | 112.0 (63.0, 263.0) | <.0013* |
| No. of embryos thawed | 0.2262 | |||
| 1 | 242 (62.2%) | 537 (56.5%) | 44 (59.5%) | |
| 2 | 143 (36.8%) | 393 (41.4%) | 28 (37.8%) | |
| > = 3 | 4 (1.0%) | 20 (2.1%) | 2 (2.7%) | |
| No. of surviving embryos | 0.1942 | |||
| 1 | 243 (62.5%) | 540 (56.8%) | 44 (59.5%) | |
| 2 | 143 (36.8%) | 394 (41.5%) | 28 (37.8%) | |
| 3 | 3 (0.8%) | 16 (1.7%) | 2 (2.7%) | |
| total no. of surviving embryos/no. of embryos thawed | 1.0 (1.0, 1.0) | 1.0 (1.0, 1.0) | 1.0 (1.0, 1.0) | 0.5283 |
| No. of embryos transferred, n (%) | 0.3241 | |||
| 1 | 249 (64.0%) | 568 (59.8%) | 47 (63.5%) | |
| 2 | 140 (36.0%) | 382 (40.2%) | 27 (36.5%) | |
| Type of embryo transferred, n (%) | 0.0291* | |||
| Cleavage embryo | 142 (36.5%) | 296 (31.2%) | 32 (43.2%) | |
| Blastocyst | 247 (63.5%) | 654 (68.8%) | 42 (56.8%) | |
| Endometrial thickness, mm | 9.7 (8.8, 11.0) | 9.2 (8.4, 10.1) | 9.7 (8.8, 10.5) | <.0013* |
| Luteal phase support, n (%) | <.0011* | |||
| Intramuscular injection and oral administration | 11 (2.8%) | 179 (18.8%) | 10 (13.5%) | |
| Vaginal gel administration and oral administration | 179 (46.0%) | 387 (40.7%) | 26 (35.1%) | |
| Vaginal suppository administration and oral administration | 197 (50.6%) | 381 (40.1%) | 24 (32.4%) | |
| Others | 2 (0.5%) | 3 (0.3%) | 14 (18.9%) | |
| Live Birth, n (%) | 156 (40.1%) | 384 (40.4%) | 30 (40.5%) | 0.9941 |
| Clinical Pregnancy, n (%) | 200 (51.4%) | 475 (50.0%) | 34 (45.9%) | 0.6771 |
| Miscarriage, n (%) | 44 (11.3%) | 91 (9.6%) | 4 (5.4%) | 0.2812 |
| Multiple pregnancy, n (%) | 37 (9.5%) | 108 (11.4%) | 4 (5.4%) | 0.2212 |
| Biochemical Pregnancy, n (%) | 29 (7.5%) | 61 (6.4%) | 2 (2.7%) | 0.3212 |
| Ectopic pregnancy, n (%) | 2 (0.5%) | 7 (0.7%) | 0 (0.0%) | >.9992 |
1Chi-Square p-value; 2Fisher Exact p-value; 3Kruskal-Wallis p-value; *P < .05