Purpose: No research has studied the effect of GH co-treatment in mild stimulation protocol for poor responders. We therefore conducted this retrospective analysis to assess the outcome of IVF/ICSI cycles after the adjunct GH use to the mild stimulation protocol in poor responders.
Methods: 132 poor responders who received mild stimulation protocol at Reproductive Medicine Center of Changzheng Hospital from January 2014 to December 2016 were included in this study. Good-quality embryo rate, clinical pregnancy rate, and live birth rate were compared between the GH group (n = 61) and control group (n = 71).
Results: IVF good-quality embryo rate (68.1 versus 51.5%; P = 0.008*) and ICSI good-quality embryo rate (53.9 versus 36.7%; P = 0.045*) was significantly higher in the GH group. Though the clinical outcomes did not reach a statistically significant difference between the two groups due to the limited sample size, there was a trend of higher rate in GH group in the aspect of clinical pregnancy rate (52.4 versus 47.1%; P = 0.609) and live birth rate (35.7 versus 27.5%; P = 0.392).
Conclusion: The results suggested that the adjuvant GH treatment in mild stimulation protocol for poor responders could significantly improve good-quality embryo rate, and might therefore improve the clinical outcomes.
Keywords: Good-quality embryo; Growth hormone; Mild stimulation protocol; Poor ovarian responder.