Fibrin glue improves pregnancy rates in women of advanced reproductive age and in patients in whom in vitro fertilization attempts repeatedly fail.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the possible contribution of fibrin sealant to the ET stage of IVF.


METHODS
Case-control study.


METHODS
An assisted reproductive technology unit that performed 2,535 treatment cycles from 1996-1997.


METHODS
All consecutively seen patients who underwent ET from January 1996 to September 1997.


METHODS
All women who underwent ET with the aid of fibrin sealant during the study period were compared with those who underwent standard ET (controls). Thereafter, a case-control study was conducted on the first consecutively seen 174 women who underwent ET with fibrin sealant and a control group that was matched for age and number of previous unsuccessful cycles.


METHODS
Patient age, number of previous unsuccessful IVF attempts, number of embryos transferred, and pregnancy rates.


RESULTS
During the study period, ET was performed with fibrin sealant in 265 women and by the standard procedure in 1,402 women. Women in the fibrin sealant group were significantly older. The pregnancy rate was not significantly different between the groups in the whole-cohort study (20.4% versus 23.1%), but it was significantly higher in the fibrin sealant group in the case-control study (25.3% versus 14.9%). This also was true when the older women (>35 years) and the women with > or =4 previous failed IVF attempts were analyzed separately (23.2% versus 9.8% and 26.1% versus 13.4%, respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
The use of fibrin sealant in ET appears to be beneficial in women of advanced reproductive age and in patients in whom IVF attempts repeatedly fail.
Bar-Hava
I
I
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Rabin Medical Center, Golda Campus, Petah Tiqva, Israel. barhava@ccsg.tau.ac.il
Krissi
H
H
Ashkenazi
J
J
Orvieto
R
R
Shelef
M
M
Ben-Rafael
Z
Z
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro; D015718:Fibrin Tissue Adhesive / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D018873:Pregnancy Rate; D014014:Tissue Adhesives / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017211:Treatment Failure; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D015718:Fibrin Tissue Adhesive; D014014:Tissue Adhesives