Skip Navigation



Hum. Reprod. Advance Access published online on May 19, 2005
Human Reproduction, doi:10.1093/humrep/dei076
This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF ) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
20/9/2448    most recent
dei076v2
dei076v1
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Weghofer, A.
Right arrow Articles by Feichtinger, W.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Weghofer, A.
Right arrow Articles by Feichtinger, W.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oupjournals.org
Received August 12, 2004
Revised April 2, 2005
Accepted April 8, 2005

Article

Age-specific FSH levels as a tool for appropriate patient counselling in assisted reproduction

Andrea Weghofer 1*, Markus Margreiter 1, Yvonne Fauster 2, Theresa Schaetz 2, Agnes Brandstetter 2, Doris Boehm 2, and Wilfried Feichtinger 1

1 Wunschbabyzentrum-Institute for Sterility Treatment, A-1130 Vienna and, Afghanistan
2 Medical University Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Andrea Weghofer, E-mail: aweghofer{at}gmx.at


  Abstract

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to assess whether, even within a normal FSH range (≤10 mU/ml), age-specific FSH levels are predictive of ovarian reserve. METHODS: Between January 1998 and December 2001, 535 women, undergoing controlled ovarian stimulation with 225 IU of recombinant (rec) FSH and 75 IU of recLH, were included in this retrospective cohort study. Criteria for enrolment were: age 25-40 years, basal FSH (b-FSH) ≤10 mU/ml and basal LH ≤12 mU/ml. Patients were assigned to three age groups (group I: 25-29 years; group II: 30-35 years; and group III: 36-40 years). Each age group was divided into quartiles according to b-FSH levels, comparing the lowest and highest b-FSH quartiles for basal hormonal patterns and outcome-related parameters. RESULTS: At ages 25-35 years, women in the lowest FSH quartiles demonstrated significantly increased numbers of oocytes at retrieval (group I: low b-FSH quartile 8.4±3.7 versus high b-FSH quartile 6.4±2.7, P < 0.02; group II: 7.5±4.0 versus 6.3±3.0, P < 0.047), whereas no difference with regard to oocyte yield was observed in patients above age 35 (group III: low b-FSH quartile 5.5±3.1 versus high b-FSH quartile 5.6±3.5). No statistical correlation was found between FSH quartiles and clinical pregnancy rates or miscarriage. CONCLUSIONS: In young women, age-specific high b-FSH levels, even within normal ranges, are associated with significantly reduced numbers of oocytes retrieved. B-FSH concentrations should, therefore, be interpreted in an age-specific manner to allow for appropriate patient counselling in IVF.

Keywords: age; FSH/IVF; ovarian reserve; poor responder.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Hum ReprodHome page
A. Weghofer and N. Gleicher
Ovarian function: a theory of relativity
Hum. Reprod., January 1, 2009; 24(1): 17 - 19.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.