title: Effects of luteal estradiol pre-treatment on the outcome of IVF in poor ovarian responders.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In view of the discrepancies about the luteal estradiol treatment before stimulation protocols having some potential advantages compared with the standard protocols in poor ovarian responders undergoing IVF, a meta-analysis of the published data was performed to compare the efficacy of the luteal estradiol pre-treatment protocols in IVF poor response patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  We searched for all published articles. The searches yielded 32 articles, from which seven studies met the inclusion criteria. We performed this meta-analysis involving 450 IVF patients in luteal estradiol pre-treatment protocol group and 606 patients in standard protocol group.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The luteal estradiol protocol resulted in a significantly higher duration of stimulation compared with the standard protocol. In addition, the number of oocytes retrieved and mature oocytes retrieved were significantly higher in the luteal estradiol protocols than those in the standard protocols. The cycle cancellation rate (CCR) in the luteal estradiol protocols was lower than the standard protocols. Moreover, no significant difference was found in the clinical pregnancy rate (CPR).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The addition of the estradiol in the luteal phase preceding IVF in poor responders improved IVF cycle outcomes, including increasing the number of oocytes retrieved and mature oocytes retrieved and decreasing the CCR.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoxia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D015331:Cohort Studies; D004351:Drug Resistance; D004958:Estradiol / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D005300:Fertility Agents, Female / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro; D006801:Humans; D007247:Infertility, Female / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000628:therapy; D008183:Luteal Phase / Q000187:drug effects*; D010053:Ovary / Q000187:drug effects*; D010062:Ovulation Induction / Q000379:methods; D011247:Pregnancy; D018873:Pregnancy Rate; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
chemical_list: D005300:Fertility Agents, Female; D004958:Estradiol