High-response intrauterine insemination cycles converted to low-cost in vitro fertilization.

Background: There is a trend to cancel intrauterine insemination (IUI) in women with a high response. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of low-cost in vitro fertilization (IVF) in high-response IUI cycles in comparison with conventional IVF.

Methods And Materials: A total of 46 women were included in the study. Group A (study group) included 23 women with hyper-response to IUI cycles who were converted to IVF. They received oral letrozole 2.5 mg twice daily from days 3-7 of the menstrual cycle, along with 75 International Units (IU) of recombinant follicle-stimulating hormone on days 3 and 8. Group B (control group) underwent conventional IVF, and received downregulation with a gonadotrophin-releasing hormone agonist followed by stimulation with recombinant follicle-stimulating hormone 150-300 IU/day. Ovulation was triggered by 10,000 IU of human chorionic gonadotrophin, followed by IVF and embryo transfer. The primary outcome measure analyzed was pregnancy rates in both groups.

Results: The study group received a significantly lower (P = 0.001) total dose of follicle-stimulating hormone and had significantly (P = 0.002) decreased levels of terminal estradiol. Although the pregnancy rate (30.43% in the study group versus 39.13% in the conventional group) per stimulated cycle was higher in the conventional IVF group, the miscarriage rate (study group 4.34% versus conventional group 13.04%) was also higher, and hence the take-home baby rate (study group 26.08% versus conventional group 30.43%) was more or less similar in both the groups.

Conclusion: IVF can be offered to women having a high response to IUI cycles with good pregnancy rates and at low cost compared with use of a conventional protocol, and therefore can be considered more patient-friendly in selected cases.