چکیده (انگلیسی):

Objective: To investigate the relationship between elevated serum progesterone levels (EP) on
the day of ovulatory trigger, live birth rates, and the growth of resulting embryos. Methods: A
total of 836 in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles with 4 478 embryos in conventional culture were
retrospectively analyzed, together with an additional 90 IVF cycles producing 618 embryos
from culture and assessment using the Embryoscope™ time-lapse system. Results: In cycles
using conventional culture, serum progesterone per follicle ≥曒14 mm (median 0.42 nmol/L/
follicle, range 0.05-3.50 nmol/L/follicle) was a significant negative predictor of live-birth (ROC
AUC = 0.395, 95% CI 0.345-0.445; P=0.000) as were progesterone/estradiol ratio (0.442,
0.391-0.494; P=0.027) and progesterone per oocyte (0.374, 0.326-0.421; P=0.000) but not
progesterone alone (0.470, 0.419-0.521; P>0.05). Women with an EP/follicle (>0.42 nmol/
L/follicle) had reduced live birth rates if they were ≥曒35 yrs (14.4% vs. 24.2%, P<0.05) but
not <35 years (35.3% vs. 37.4%, ns). Despite reduced pregnancy rates, cycles with EP/follicle
in women ≥曒35 years produced similar proportions of “good” and “top” quality embryos in
conventional culture compared to women with low progesterone/follicle, and no difference
in abnormalities of cleavage (direct cleavage or reverse cleavage), multinucleation or timings
of division (pronuclear fading to 2-cell, 3-cell, 4-cell and 5-cell; cc2 and S2) observed with
time-lapse videography. Conclusions: EP/follicle ≥曒14 mm (>0.42 nmol/L/follicle) adversely
affects embryo implantation in women aged ≥曒35 years, but not <35 yrs. However, no adverse
features were seen in the embryos from these affected cycles in terms of morphological
appearance, abnormal patterns of cleavage, or morphokinetic timings.