Comparing the long-acting and short-acting forms of gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists in the long protocol of IVF/ICSI Cycles: A retrospective study.

AIM: This study aimed to compare the efficacy of long- and short-acting gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist on clinical outcomes of in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF/ICSI) long protocol cycles.

METHODS: In this retrospective study, 478 patients were enrolled from October 2012 to November 2014. The pituitary downregulation result, serum hormone levels, gonadotropin (Gn) dose during controlled ovarian hyperstimulation, and outcome of IVF/ICSI-embryo transfer were compared between the two groups.

RESULTS: Compared with the long-acting group, in the short-acting group the duration of downregulation and stimulation was significantly shorter; the total Gn doses, cost of an IVF cycle, rate of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, superior-quality embryo rate, and implantation rate were significantly lower; and the serum luteinizing hormone concentrations on the day of Gn and human chorionic gonadotropin administration were significantly higher. The serum estradiol level on the day of human chorionic gonadotropin was higher in the long-acting group. However, no significant differences were noted in other parameters.

CONCLUSION: The long-acting group was associated with greater amounts of Gn and a longer duration of use for ovarian stimulation. This increased the cost per IVF cycle and may have had a detrimental effect on the pregnancy outcome because of a subsequent increase in the rate of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome and decrease in the superior-quality embryo rate and implantation rate.