Ovarian stimulation outcome in infertile women with endometriosis undergoing IVF.

Objectives: The aim of our study was to assess the influence of ovarian endometriosis on the outcome of controlled ovarian stimulation (COS) in IVF patients with normal functional ovarian reserve. Material and methods: This was a retrospective case-control study of patients undergoing IVF/ICSI treatment between January 2013 and September 2014, aged ≤40 years and a good ovarian reserve, characterized by antral follicle count ≥7, anti-mullerian hormone levels ≥0.8 ng/ml and day 3 serum FSH values ≤12mUI/ml. The study group (1) consisted of 28 patients with ovarian endometriosis. The control group (2) included 57 patients with laparoscopically diagnosed tubal-factor infertility, without endometriosis. These groups were analyzed for the number of stimulation days, the total amount of gonadotropins used for COS, number of total or M2 oocytes and ovarian sensitivity index (OSI). Results: The mean stimulation days, in groups 1 and 2, was 9.2±1.5 and 9.3±1.6, respectively. The mean number of retrieved oocytes in groups 1 and 2 was 10.5±4.7 and 9.0±4.5, respectively. The average number of metaphase II oocytes, in groups 1 and 2, was 8.8±4.71 and 8.2±4.1, respectively. The average of the total amount of gonadotropins used for stimulation, and the OSI were similar for both groups. We found no statistically significant differences in terms of the number of stimulation days, number of oocytes retrieved, total dose of FSH used and the OSI, between the two groups. Conclusions: The simple presence of ovarian endometriosis does not seem to affect the outcome of the exogenous gonadotropin stimulation, when the ovarian functional reserve is not significantly impaired.