Use of serum inhibin A and human chorionic gonadotropin measurements to predict the outcome of in vitro fertilization pregnancies.
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.
Hauzman
Erik
E
First Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Semmelweis University, Faculty of Medicine, Budapest, Hungary. humanic@noi1.sote.hu
Fedorcsák
Péter
P
Klinga
Klaus
K
Papp
Zoltán
Z
Rabe
Thomas
T
Strowitzki
Thomas
T
Urbancsek
János
J
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
D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin; C422362:inhibin A; D007265:Inhibins