Ovarian responsiveness of poor responders diagnosed according to the Bologna criteria in ovarian stimulation in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection cycles

Abstract

Objective To explore the ovarian responsiveness of poor ovarian diagnosed according to the Bologna criteria in ovarian stimulation in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF/ICSI) cycles. Methods This present retrospective study included all poor ovarian diagnosed according to the Bologna criteria and cycles with conventional stimulation protocol between January 2011 and December 2016 in our IVF center. We studied the incidence of poor ovarian response (POR) in these stimulation cycles. Results The incidence of POR for patients aged≥40 years with antral follicle count (AFC)<5 in the first stimulation IVF/ICSI cycle was 98.7% (75/76), but it decline obviously in subsequent cycles. The incidence of POR in the second cycle for patients aged≥40 years with POR in the first stimulation cycle was 67.2% (45/67). The incidence of POR in the second cycle for patients with AFC<5 and POR in the first stimulation cycle was 69.5% (57/82). The incidence of POR in the third cycle after two episodes of POR after maximal stimulation (at least 450 IU/d FSH) was 71.4% (10/14). Conclusion The incidence of POR in the first stimulation cycle for expected poor ovarian responders diagnosed according to the Bologna criteria is very high, so we should pay more attention to these patients, formulate personalized stimulation protocol to improve their ovarian responsiveness. Poor ovarian diagnosed according to the Bologna criteria with previous POR shouldn’t give up subsequent stimulation cycles, because of many patients without POR in subsequent cycles. Key words: Poor ovarian response (POR); Bologna criteria; In vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF/ICSI); Ovarian stimulation; Ovarian reserve