Oral Microdose Lupron Versus Luteal Estradiol Trial in Poor Responder In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) Patients
Status:
Withdrawn
Trial end date:
2012-01-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Hundreds of thousands of couples in the United States experience infertility each year. When
initial measures do not help, some couples require a process called ovarian stimulation and
in vitro fertilization (IVF). Usually, a woman produces at most one egg each month. Ovarian
stimulation helps these women make more than one egg per month. However, this involves taking
hormones that stimulate the ovary to produce many eggs at one time. The stimulatory hormones
injected with a small needle. The eggs are removed from the ovary through a surgical
procedure and then placed in a dish for fertilization by sperm to form embryos. The embryos
are grown in the laboratory then replaced into the woman's uterus 3-5 days later.
The stimulation of the ovaries is important. Some patients undergo ovarian stimulation for
IVF but do not respond to the treatment. This is a very difficult situation because even
though several ovarian stimulation protocols have been used for poor responder patients, it
is not clear which protocol works best. In fact, two of the most commonly used protocols have
not been directly compared.
This study will randomize (like flipping a coin) couples with a history of low response who
are going to start IVF treatment into two groups. In one group the female partner will use a
protocol called "E2 patch/antagonist". These women will use an estrogen patch and injected
antagonist for several days before starting injectable fertility medications. The other group
will use a protocol called "OCP/microdose". This group of women will use oral contraceptive
pills (OCPs) and small doses of lupron along with the other injectable fertility medications.
We will then follow their progress to see how many eggs they produce and how many women get
pregnant.