title: Is the occurrence of the empty follicle syndrome a predictor that a subsequent stimulated cycle will be an unfavourable one?
abstract: Several hypotheses have been advanced to explain empty follicle syndrome (EFS) but it remains a controversial topic. This paper reports experience with three IVF cycles in which no oocytes were collected. In all cases, an additional IVF cycle was performed. The ovarian stimulation protocol, ultrasound and hormonal surveillance methods, human chorionic gonadotrophin timing and oocyte retrieval technique were similar in all patients. The assessment of additional cycles demonstrated a poor response in terms of oocyte quality, since the number of mature oocytes was low despite the high number of oocytes collected. Thus, the data suggest that in these patients, EFS should be considered as a borderline form of poor response to ovarian stimulation. If this is confirmed, EFS should be a recurrent event and an empty cycle could be a good predictor that a subsequent stimulated cycle will be an unfavourable.
authors.affiliation: Department of General and Specialistic Surgery, Gynaecology and Obstetric Unit A, Centre of Pathophysiology of Human Reproduction and Gametes Cryopreservation, University of Bari, Piazza Giulio Cesare 11-70124 Bari, Italy. milavale@libero.it
authors.forename: Filomenamila
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lorusso
authors.forename: Raffaella
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Depalo
authors.forename: Spiros
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tsadilas
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Caradonna
authors.forename: Annarosa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Di Gilio
authors.forename: Maria Teresa
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Capotorto
authors.forename: Margherita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vacca
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Nappi
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Selvaggi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009865:Oocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D006080:Ovarian Follicle / Q000473:pathology*; D010062:Ovulation Induction / Q000379:methods*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D017211:Treatment Failure; D016896:Treatment Outcome