Combination Treatment of Preoperative Embryo Cryopreservation and Endoscopic Surgery (Surgery-ART Hybrid Therapy) in Infertile Women with Diminished Ovarian Reserve and Uterine Myomas or Ovarian Endometriomas.

Study Objective: To analyze the clinical outcomes of and predictive factors for the therapeutic effect of combination treatment of preoperative embryo cryopreservation and endoscopic surgery (surgery-assisted reproductive technology [ART] hybrid therapy) in infertile women with diminished ovarian reserve (DOR) with uterine fibroids and/or ovarian endometriomas.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: Data from all patients who underwent surgery-ART hybrid therapy at Juntendo University Hospital and Sugiyama Clinic between 2014 and 2016 were analyzed retrospectively. We compared women who experienced live birth (success group) and implantation failure or miscarriage (failure group) after surgery-ART hybrid therapy and evaluate the predictive factors for live birth.

Patients: A total of 39 infertile women underwent surgery-ART hybrid therapy with 86 embryo transfer cycles.

Interventions: All women underwent ART treatment for embryo cryopreservation preoperatively, reproductive surgery, and warmed embryo transfer after the postoperative contraceptive interval (surgery-ART hybrid therapy) for women with DOR (anti-Müllerian hormone <1.0 ng/mL) and/or advanced reproductive age (>40 years) with uterine myomas and/or ovarian endometriomas who required surgery.

Results: Among 39 women underwent surgery-ART hybrid therapy, 1 woman acquired no embryo after oocyte retrieval trials and abandoned efforts to conceive, 14 experienced childbirth (success group) and 24 (63.2%) experienced implantation failure or miscarriage (failure group) after surgery-ART hybrid therapy. The median patient age was 40 years (interquartile range [IQR], 38-41 years) in the success group and 41.5 years (IQR, 41-42 years) in the failure group (p = .032). The respective serum anti-Müllerian hormone levels were 2.5 ng/mL (range, 0.1-8.6 ng/mL) and 1.3 ng/mL (range, 0.1-4.2 ng/mL) (p = .396), and the respective numbers of preoperative frozen were 5.0 (range, 4.0-6.0) and 2.0 (range, 1.0-3.0) (p < .001). There were no significant differences in surgical findings of myomas and endometriosis between the 2 groups. Compared with the 24 women who experienced hybrid therapy failure, the 14 who underwent successful surgery-ART hybrid therapy were significantly younger and had a greater number of cryopreserved embryos.

Conclusion: Successful surgery-ART hybrid therapy requires a sufficient preoperative age-specific number of frozen embryos, establishment of ART treatment with stable pregnancy outcomes and skillful reproductive surgery, and a strong desire of the patient and doctor for pregnancy.