title: Cumulative probability of live birth after three in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection cycles.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the probability of live birth after three available in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF/ICSI) cycles.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective, observational study.
  
  
  METHODS
  University hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nine hundred seventy-four couples who started their first conventional IVF or ICSI cycle between January 1996 and December 1997. A total of 1985 stimulated cycles were initiated.
  
  
  METHODS
  Analysis of the cumulative live birth rate using the life-table approach with and without taking dropouts into account.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cumulative live birth rate.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The overall cumulative live birth rate after three completed stimulated cycles (including freezing/thawing cycles) was 65.5% with an "optimistic" approach. For the "realistic" and "pessimistic" approaches the corresponding figures were 63.1% and 55.5%, respectively. Unexpectedly, 65% of couples not achieving a live birth interrupted the full treatment program of three cycles.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The cumulative live birth rate gives the couple a more accurate prognosis of achieving a live birth after IVF/ICSI than the statistics usually provided. With the "realistic" estimation, 63% of the couples achieved childbirth after three available conventional IVF or ICSI cycles. Further studies are required to investigate the high drop-out rate.
authors.affiliation: Center for Reproductive Medicine, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Göteborg University, Göteborg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Katarina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Olivius
authors.forename: Barbro
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Friden
authors.forename: Kersti
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lundin
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bergh
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001723:Birth Rate; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007246:Infertility / Q000628:therapy*; D015993:Life Tables; D008297:Male; D010062:Ovulation Induction; D010352:Patient Dropouts; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D020554:Sperm Injections, Intracytoplasmic; D013548:Sweden