title: Use of serum inhibin A and human chorionic gonadotropin measurements to predict the outcome of in vitro fertilization pregnancies.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the clinical value of maternal serum inhibin A measurements in early pregnancy in the prediction of outcome of IVF pregnancies and to compare the predictive accuracy of inhibin A concentrations with serum hCG concentrations.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective study.University-based IVF program.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred fifty IVF pregnancies of 150 couples were studied during a 4-year period.
  
  
  METHODS
  None.
  
  
  METHODS
  The association between pregnancy outcome and age, number of collected oocytes, number of transferred embryos, and serum hCG and inhibin A concentrations in early pregnancy was studied with logistic regression. Predictive accuracy of inhibin A and hCG concentrations was calculated by receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Lower serum concentrations of inhibin A and hCG were associated with increased odds for preclinical abortion and early pregnancy loss, whereas higher inhibin A and hCG concentrations were observed in multiple ongoing pregnancies. Inhibin A measurements were superior to hCG in the prediction of preclinical abortions; no significant difference was observed between the predictive value of hCG, inhibin A, or their combination in differentiating between ongoing pregnancies and early pregnancy losses. The discriminative potential of inhibin A for prognosticating multiple ongoing pregnancies was lower than that of hCG.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although serum inhibin A concentrations are more accurate than hCG levels for predicting preclinical abortion after IVF, they had no advantage in forecasting ongoing or multiple ongoing pregnancies, suggesting that routine assessment of serum inhibin A concentrations during follow-up of IVF pregnancies is unjustified.
authors.affiliation: First Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Semmelweis University, Faculty of Medicine, Budapest, Hungary. humanic@noi1.sote.hu
authors.forename: Erik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hauzman
authors.forename: Péter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fedorcsák
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Klinga
authors.forename: Zoltán
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Papp
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rabe
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Strowitzki
authors.forename: János
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Urbancsek
mesh_terms: D000022:Abortion, Spontaneous / Q000209:etiology*; D000328:Adult; D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007265:Inhibins / Q000097:blood*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D011272:Pregnancy, Multiple / Q000502:physiology*; D012372:ROC Curve; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin; C422362:inhibin A; D007265:Inhibins