HCG trigger versus GnRH agonist trigger in PCOS patients undergoing IVF cycles: frozen embryo transfer outcomes

What Was Tested

This observational study looks at hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) in the context of pcos.

The use of Gonadotrophin releasing hormone agonist (GnRHa), with freeze-all strategy followed by frozen embryo transfer (FET) has been found to eliminate the risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) in women with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) undergoing IVF cycles.

However, physicians still hesitate to routinely use GnRHa as a trigger, replacing human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG), for concerns of compromised cycle outcome.

The researchers aimed to evaluate outcomes following the transfer of embryos in FET cycles obtained from GnRHa trigger in comparison with hCG trigger in PCOS patients of Asian origin.

Who Took Part

The abstract describes 210 patients taking part.

PubMed tags the participants as women only.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized study.

Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) and who got the comparison, which limits bias.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Chorionic Gonadotropin, Embryo Transfer, Fertilization in Vitro, Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone, Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome, Ovulation Induction and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.

The authors tagged it with the keywords FET, GnRHa trigger, PCOS, hCG trigger and live birth rate.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized study of hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) in 210 patients in people with pcos.

The abstract goes on to report its results in about 4 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 2021 (JBRA assisted reproduction), a journal based in Brazil.

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