Clinical pregnancy following GnRH agonist administration in the luteal phase of fresh or frozen assisted reproductive technology (ART) cycles: Systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Clinical pregnancy following GnRH agonist administration in the luteal phase of fresh or frozen assisted reproductive technology (ART) cycles: Systematic review and meta-analysis Le Thi Minh Chaua,*, Duong Khue Tua, Philippe Lehertb,c, Do Van Dungd, Le Quang Thanhe, Vo Minh Tuand a Department of Infertility, Tu Du hospital, Vietnam b Faculty of Medicine, the University of Melbourne, Australia c Faculty of Economics, UCL Mons, Louvain, Belgium d University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam e Tu Du hospital, Vietnam A R T I C L E I N F O Article history: Received 17 December 2018 Received in revised form 25 April 2019 Accepted 10 May 2019 Available online 13 May 2019 A B S T R A C T Objective(s): To study if the GnRH agonist administration in luteal phase improves clinical pregnancy rate of fresh and frozen embryo transfer. Also, this meta-analysis compares the treatment effect of luteal GnRH agonist administration between long agonist and antagonist protocols of fresh cycles, and between two types of treatment: fresh and frozen embryo transfers. Study design: Systematic review and meta-analysis (registration number CRD42017059152) Results: For the overall 20 studies (5497 patients), clinical pregnancy rate significantly increased in group of GnRH agonist administration compared to control group (RR 1.24, 95% CI 1.14–1.34, p < 0.0001). Regarding the treatment effect of luteal GnRH agonist administration between long agonist and antagonist protocol fresh cycles, no significant difference was observed (RR = 1.28, 95% CI 0.98–1.67, p = 0.07). Also, in comparison between fresh and frozen embryo transfer, similar effect of GnRH agonist administration was found (RR = 0.93, 95% CI 0.74–1.16, p = 0.49). Conclusion(s): There is evidence that GnRH agonist administration in luteal phase improve clinical pregnancy rate in both fresh and frozen cycles. Within fresh cycles, no significant difference of clinical pregnancy rate is found between two protocols. In frozen cycles, the effect of GnRH agonist administration in enhancing clinical pregnancy rate is similar to fresh cycles