Ovarian response and cumulative live birth rate of women undergoing in-vitro fertilisation who had discordant anti-Mullerian hormone and antral follicle count measurements: a retrospective study

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate ovarian response and cumulative live birth rate of women undergoing in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment who are discordant in the quartile of baseline serum anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) level and antral follicle count (AFC). METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort study on 1,046 women undergoing the first IVF cycle in Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong. Subjects receiving standard IVF treatment using the GnRH agonist long protocol were classified according to their quartiles of baseline AMH and AFC measurements after GnRH agonist down-regulation and before commencing ovarian stimulation. The number of retrieved oocytes, ovarian sensitivity index (OSI) and cumulative live-birth rate for each AMH/AFC quartile combination were compared. OSI was defined as the number of retrieved oocytes per 1,000 IU of FSH administered. RESULTS: In our studied cohort, 32.2% of subjects showed discordance in their AMH and AFC quartiles. Among them, those having higher AMH within the same AFC quartile had higher number of retrieved oocytes, OSI and cumulative live-birth rate. Subjects discordant in AMH and AFC had intermediate OSI which differed significantly compared to those concordant in AMH and AFC on either end. OSI of those discordant in AMH and AFC did not differ significantly whether either AMH or AFC quartile was higher than the other. CONCLUSIONS: When there is discordance in AMH and AFC, the ovarian responsiveness is intermediate between that when both are concordant on either end. Women having higher AMH within the same AFC quartile had better ovarian response and cumulative live-birth rate.