"hCG priming" effect in controlled ovarian stimulation through a long protocol

What Was Tested

Researchers studied hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) in this randomized controlled trial publication.

The primary aims of this study were to assess the effect of short-term pre-rFSH administration of hCG in women entering an ICSI treatment cycle on follicular development, quality of oocytes and early embryo development.

Why It Was Studied

The secondary endpoints were to record the effects on endometrial quality and pregnancy rate.

Who Took Part

The age groups tagged for this paper are adults, both men and women.

Patients with a history of at least one previous unsuccessful ICSI cycle were randomly assigned into two groups to receive treatment with either a long protocol with rFSH (control group) or a long protocol with rFSH and pre-treatment with hCG (hCG group).

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized and pilot study.

Because people in this hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

It is described as a pilot, a small early test of whether a larger hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) study would be practical.

What Was Measured

The secondary endpoints were to record the effects on endometrial quality and pregnancy rate.

The subject headings attached to it are Chorionic Gonadotropin, Clinical Protocols, Embryo Transfer, Follicle Stimulating Hormone, Ovulation Induction, Pilot Projects and Pregnancy Rate.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized and pilot study of hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin).

Its findings take up roughly 3 sentences of the abstract and are left out here on purpose; the source paper is the place to read them.

The publication is from 2009 (Reproductive biology and endocrinology : RB&E), a journal based in England.

More context: the hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) compound page.