A three-arm randomised controlled trial comparing Gonadotrophin Releasing Hormone (GnRH) agonist long regimen versus GnRH agonist short regimen versus GnRH antagonist regimen in women with a history of poor ovarian response undergoing in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment: Poor responders intervention trial (PRINT)

摘要

BackgroundPoor response to ovarian stimulation with exogenous gonadotrophins occurs in 9–24% of women undergoing in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment, which represents an estimated 4000–10,000 women per year in the UK. Poor responders often have their treatment cycle cancelled because of expected poor outcome.One treatment strategy that may influence outcome is the choice of pituitary suppression regimen prior to the initiation of ovarian stimulation. The three commonly used pituitary suppression regimens in IVF treatment are:(1) the GnRH agonist long regimen,(2) the GnRH agonist short regimen and(3) the GnRH antagonist regimen.A systematic review of randomised controlled trials of these pituitary suppression regimens has shown the evidence to be either inconclusive or inconsistent. We therefore designed a three arm randomised trial to evaluate the effectiveness of these regimens in women who had poor ovarian response in a previous IVF treatment cycle.