Author(s)

C. Sciard¹, J. Berthiller², A. Brosse¹, N. Rol Bartra¹, S. Hadj¹, A. Bordes¹, P. Du Mesnildot¹, J. Lornage³, H. Lejeune¹, I. Plotton^1,4, B. Salle¹

¹Department of Medically Assisted Procreation of the University Hospital of Lyon, Female Mother Hospital, East Hospital Group, Bron, France.
¹Endocrinology Laboratory of the University Hospital of Lyon, Female Mother Hospital, East Hospital Group, Bron, France.
²EPICIME (Epidemiology, Pharmacology, Clinical Research, Medical Information, Mother-Child), Bron, France.
³Laboratory of Reproductive Biology of the University Hospital of Lyon, Female Mother Child Hospital, East Hospital Group, Bron, France.
⁴Endocrinology Laboratory of the University Hospital of Lyon, Female Mother Hospital, East Hospital Group, Bron, France.

Objective: Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) has been previously reported to improve ovarian response in IVF for poor responders. Its effect remains uncertain. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of DHEA given during two years in our unit, in order to build hypothesis for a future randomized controlled trial. Design: Cohort of exposed and non-exposed DHEA study. Patient(s): 224 patients with AMH under 1.6 ng/ml undergoing IVF with a short antagonist protocol adding FSH and LH rec were enrolled for 327 IVF cycles. 176 patients had been treated with DHEA before IVF, and 151 had not. Intervention(s): None. Main Outcome Measure(s): Cancellation cycle rate, amount of gonadotrophins used, estradiol level on day six of stimulation, number of oocytes retrieved, metaphase II oocytes, blastocysts and frozen embryos, clinical pregnancy rate and miscarriage rate. Results: The cancellation rate was significantly higher in the group without DHEA (29.8% versus 13.1%, p = 0.002). The amount of gonadotrophins used for stimulation, the estradiol level on day six of stimulation, the number of oocytes retrieved, metaphase II oocytes, blastocysts, frozen embryos and miscarriage rate were not different in both groups. The clinical pregnancy rate per included patient in the DHEA group was 17.1% versus 8.6% in the non-treated group (p = 0.02). Conclusion: DHEA appears to improve clinical pregnancy rate by decreasing the cancellation rate.

DHEA, IVF, Poor Responders

Sciard, C. , Berthiller, J. , Brosse, A. , Bartra, N. , Hadj, S. , Bordes, A. , Mesnildot, P. , Lornage, J. , Lejeune, H. , Plotton, I. and Salle, B. (2016) Preliminary Results of DHEA in Poor Responders in IVF. Open Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 6, 396-403. doi: 10.4236/ojog.2016.67052.