title: Effect of age on pregnancy outcome without assisted reproductive technology in women with elevated early follicular phase serum follicle-stimulating hormone levels.
abstract: There are data suggesting that patients with elevated early follicular phase serum follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) levels have a poor fertility outcome. This has been attributed to a high rate of aneuploidy in the oocytes. It is not clear whether the spindle defects leading to nondisjunction are related to the high FSH levels or the age of the oocyte. The study presented herein retrospectively evaluated 6-month pregnancy rates in women with elevated early follicular phase serum FSH levels according to age. Only cases without in vitro fertilization were used, since the elevated FSH levels were deemed likely to interfere with multiple egg recruitment needed for assisted reproductive technology. The 6-month clinical and ongoing pregnancy rates were significantly higher in the women <40 years of age (46.1 and 34.6%, respectively) than in those aged 40 or older (10.5 and 5.3%). These data suggest that women with elevated follicular-phase serum FSH levels have a better fertility prognosis when they are younger.
authors.affiliation: University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School at Camden, and Cooper Hospital/University Medical Center, USA.
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Check
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Peymer
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lurie
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005640:Follicle Stimulating Hormone / Q000097:blood*; D005498:Follicular Phase / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007247:Infertility, Female; D008423:Maternal Age; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D012016:Reference Values; D012099:Reproductive Techniques; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D005640:Follicle Stimulating Hormone