Prospective evaluation of two stimulation protocols for low responders who were undergoing in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer

OBJECTIVE: To compare two stimulation protocols designed for low responders undergoing IVF. DESIGN: Randomized, prospective study. SETTING: University hospital IVF unit. PATIENT(S): Sixty low responders who were recruited on the basis of results in previous cycles. INTERVENTION(S): Modified flare protocol in which a high dose of GnRH agonist was administered for the first 4 days, followed by a standard agonist dose, or a modified long protocol in which a standard agonist dose was used until pituitary down-regulation, after which the agonist dose was halved during stimulation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Number of oocytes retrieved. RESULT(S): Twenty-nine cycles were performed with the modified flare protocol and 31 were performed with the modified long protocol. Significantly more oocytes were obtained with the modified long protocol than the modified flare protocol (4.42 +/- 2.6 vs. 3.07 +/- 2.15). The number and quality of embryos available for transfer was similar in both groups. One clinical pregnancy (3.4%) was achieved with the modified flare protocol, and 7 pregnancies (22.5%) were achieved using the modified long protocol. CONCLUSION(S): These preliminary results substantiate the poor prognosis and outcome for low responders undergoing IVF. A modified long "mini-dose" protocol appears to be superior to a modified mega-dose flare protocol in terms of oocyte yield and cycle outcome.