From The Cochrane Library - Fertility Treatment: Safer Drug for Women Leads to Same Live Birth Rate

Printer-friendly version

This was published this week in The Cochrane Library, 2011, Issue 5:

“Fertility Treatment: Safer Drug for Women Leads to Same Live Birth Rate

Gonadotrophin-Releasing Hormone Antagonists As Effective As Agonists with Fewer Serious Harmful Effects

With new information available, authors of a Cochrane Systematic Review have revised their conclusions about the relative effectiveness of two different treatments used to help women become pregnant. They now conclude that giving women gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) antagonists leads to similar live-birth rates compared with GnRH agonists. Previously they had concluded that women who used antagonists tended to have lower birth-rates than those using agonists.

This is important because the systematic review also showed that GnRH antagonists can halve the risk of over-stimulating the ovaries compared with GnRH agonists, as well as halving the number of women who have to pull out of a cycle of therapy. “

Read the summary and full article here:

Gonadotrophin-releasing hormone antagonists for assisted reproductive technology

Al-Inany HG, Youssef MAFM, Aboulghar M, Broekmans F, Sterrenburg M, Smit J, Abou-Setta AM. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2011, Issue 5. Art. No.: CD001750. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD001750.pub3