Aim: To evaluate the effect of trigger day progesterone (P) levels on live birth in freeze-all cycles.
Material and methods: Retrospective analysis of 1034 freeze-all female patients aged <38 years with single blastocyst transfers. Patients with (n = 268) or without (n = 766) preimplantation genetic test for aneuploidy (PGT-A) arm were further categorized into three subgroups based on trigger day P levels; low (<0.80 ng/ml), medium (0.8-1.49 ng/ml), and high (≥1.50 ng/ml).
Results: Estradiol (E2) levels on trigger day, the number of oocytes retrieved and the number of mature oocytes increased significantly with increasing serum p values in cycles without and with PGT-A arms. Significant correlation was found between E2 levels on trigger day and serum P levels and between the number of total oocytes retrieved and serum P levels Live birth rates were similar in the three subgroups in without PGT-A arm (51%, 52.6%, and 51.5%, respectively; p = .922) and with PGT-A arm (55.1%, 55.1%, and 62.5%, respectively; p = .730). Multivariate regression analysis revealed that trigger day P levels were not significant for live birth.
Conclusion: The proposal that trigger day progesterone elevation (PE) exerts a detrimental effect on oocyte and embryo competence has no clinical validity.
Keywords: Freeze-all; IVF/ICSI; trigger day progesterone.