Fertility and Pregnancy Outcomes in Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Following Bariatric Surgery

Abstract

Context: Restoration of ovulation is quite common in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) after surgically induced weight loss. Whether or not this results in an improvement of PCOS-associated infertility is uncertain.

Objective: To study fertility and gestational outcomes in women with PCOS after bariatric surgery.

Design: Unicenter cohort study.

Setting: Academic hospital.

Patients: Two hundred and sixteen premenopausal women were screened for PCOS before bariatric surgery. Women were followed-up after the intervention until mid-2019 regardless of having or not PCOS.

Interventions: All participants underwent bariatric surgery from 2005 to 2015.

Main outcome measures: Pregnancy and live birth rates in the PCOS and control groups.

Results: In women seeking fertility, pregnancy rates were 95.2% in PCOS and 76.9% in controls (P = 0.096) and live birth rates were 81.0% and 69.2%, respectively (P = 0.403). The time to achieve the first pregnancy after surgery was 34 ± 28 months in women with PCOS and 32 ± 25 months in controls. Albeit the mean birth weight was lower (P = 0.040) in newborns from women with PCOS (2763 ± 618 g) compared with those from controls (3155 ± 586 g), the number of newborns with low birth weight was similar in both groups (3 in the PCOS group and 1 in the controls, P = 0.137). Maternal (17.6% in PCOS and 22.2% in controls, P = 0.843) and neonatal (23.5% in PCOS and 14.8% in controls, P = 0.466) complications were rare, showing no differences between groups.

Conclusions: Pregnancy and fertility rates in very obese women with PCOS after bariatric surgery were high, with few maternal and neonatal complications.

Keywords: conception; fertility; live birth; obesity surgery; pregnancy.