Background: Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) is defined as the loss of two or more pregnancies. Several treatment options are available, including progesterone, which is one of the few treatments that improve live birth rates in RPL patients.
Objective: To compare the live birth rates, medical and obstetric characteristics, and RPL evaluation results of women with and without progesterone treatment. These women attended the RPL clinic at Soroka University Medical Center.
Methods: A retrospective cohort study based on 866 patients was conducted. The patients were divided into two groups and examined: the dydrogesterone treatment group consisting of 509 women and a group of 357 patients who did not receive the treatment. All the patients had a subsequent (index) pregnancy.
Results: The two groups were not statistically different in terms of their demographic and clinical characteristics or evaluation results. In a univariate analysis, no statistically significant differences were found between the groups in terms of live birth rates (80.6% vs. 84%; p-value = 0.209). In a multivariate logistic analysis adjusted for maternal age, the ratio of pregnancy losses to the number of pregnancies, other administered treatments, antiphospholipid syndrome, and body mass index, dydrogesterone treatment was found to be independently associated with a higher rate of live births than the control group (adjusted OR = 1.592; CI 95% 1.051-2.413; p-value = 0.028).
Conclusions: Progesterone treatment is associated with an increased live birth rate in RPL patients. Studies with larger sample sizes are recommended to strengthen these results.
Keywords: dydrogesterone; live birth; progesterone; progestins; progestogens; recurrent miscarriage; recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL).