REVIEW   

Minerva Ginecologica 2019 June;71(3):207-10

DOI: 10.23736/S0026-4784.18.04347-2

Copyright © 2018 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

lingua: Inglese

Cumulative live birth rates in in-vitro fertilization

Panagiotis DRAKOPOULOS ^{1, 2} ✉, Joaquín ERRÁZURIZ ^{1, 2, 3}, Samuel SANTOS-RIBEIRO ^{1, 2, 4}, Herman TOURNAYE ¹, Alberto VAIARELLI ⁵, Nicola PLUCHINO ⁶, Christophe BLOCKEEL ^{1, 7}, Nikolaos P. POLYZOS ^{2, 8}

¹ Center for Reproductive Medicine, Brussels University Hospital, Brussels, Belgium; ² Department of Surgical and Clinical Science, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Free University of Brussels, Brussels, Belgium; ³ Center for Reproductive Medicine, German Clinic, Santiago, Chile; ⁴ Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Medicine, Santa Maria University Hospital, Lisbon, Portugal; ⁵ Valle Giulia Clinic, Genera Centers for Reproductive Medicine, Rome, Italy; ⁶ Division of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Hospital of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; ⁷ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia; ⁸ Department of Reproductive Medicine, Dexeus University Hospital, Barcelona, Spain

Traditionally, in-vitro fertilization (IVF) success rates have been reported in terms of live birth per fresh cycle or embryo transfer. However, reporting IVF outcomes using cumulative live birth rates (LBR), defined as the first live birth following the use of all fresh and frozen embryos derived from a single ovarian stimulation cycle appears to be a better measure of IVF treatment success. Although there is an initial increase in fresh LBR with the number of oocytes retrieved, LBR either reach a plateau or may even decline when more than 15-20 oocytes are harvested. On the other hand, when all fresh and frozen embryos are taken into account, cumulative LBR have a significant positive association with ovarian response. Cumulative LBR are a more suitable are more comprehensive when reporting success in an IVF program. Cumulative LBR increase with the number of oocytes retrieved, suggesting that ovarian stimulation may have a minimal or no detrimental effect on oocyte/embryo quality.

KEY WORDS: Live birth; Pregnancy rate; Oocytes; Fertilization in vitro