Publication:

Is the cumulative live birth rate following in vitro fertilization (IVF) lower with government coverage than prior to coverage?

Background Most studies conclude that the cumulative pregnancy rate depends on embryo quality and quantity, which is directly related to patient’s age. In the best-case scenario, the cumulative pregnancy rate reaches 79% when the number of embryos reaches 15. Other studies reported 75% probability of live birth after 6 cycles of controlled ovarian stimulation and IVF.

Methods Retrospective cohort study comparing IVF cycles between January 2008 to December 2009 (before governmental coverage), and between January 2012 to December 2013. University-affiliated private IVF clinic. 298 good prognosis IVF patients from 2008-2009 and 610 patients from 2012-2013 were included. The cumulative LBR per IVF cycle was the main outcome measure; the secondary outcome measures were the type of protocol used, percentage of ICSI cycles, fertilization rate, proportion of day 3 versus (vs) day 5 embryo transfers, average number of embryos transferred, average number of frozen embryos, the clinical pregnancy rate and the multiple pregnancy.

Results no statistically significant difference in the cumulative LBR; it was 44.8% in 2008-2009 but 40.3% in 2012-2013. p: 0.134. The long agonist protocol was used the most 2008-2009 (75.5% of the cycles) compared to antagonist protocol in 2012-2013 (77.2%) p <0.01. There was no difference in the use of ICSI, but the fertilization rate in 2012-2013 (60.9% vs 65.9%, p=0.001). The proportion of day 3 embryos transferred in 2008-2009 (82.2%) and 2012-2013 (43.9%), p=0.005, and the proportion of day 5 embryos transferred is 3.7% in 2008-2009 but 54.9% in 2012-2013, p<0.001. The average number of embryos transferred in 2008-2009 was 1.96 vs 1.08 in 2012-2013. The average number of frozen embryos per cycle was not significantly different. The clinical pregnancy rate was not significantly different (56.8% vs 54.3%). The multiple pregnancy rate is 19.4% in 2008-2009 and 0.5% in 2012-2013.

Conclusions In good prognosis IVF patients, the cumulative LBR per cycle started was not significantly different after IVF provincial coverage and the move towards eSET on day 3 or day 5. No advantage of transferring multiple embryos in this group of patients, and that transferring one at a time reduces significantly the multiple pregnancy rate and its complications.