Critical appraisal:Michaan N, Ben-David G, Ben-Yosef D, Almog B, Many A, Pauzner D, et al 2010

Critical Appraisal

Article being appraised

Michaan N, Ben-David G, Ben-Yosef D, Almog B, Many A, Pauzner D, et al. Ovarian stimulation and emergency in vitro fertilization for fertility preservation in cancer patients. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol 2010 Apr;149(2):175-7 Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20074845.

Applicable clinical question

In female cancer patients does the use of embryo cryopreservation result in pregnancy and live birth?

Key Facts

Study Design

case-control study

Study aims:

To evaluate the outcome of ovarian stimulation and in vitro fertilization (IVF) in women undergoing fertility preservation prior to chemotherapy compared with healthy patients with infertility due to tubal factor.

Number of Patients:

21

21 cancer patients and 1 patient with focal proliferative glomerulosclerosis, undergoing emergency IVF or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI; Group A) and 22 patients undergoing IVF for tubal factor (Group B).

Reported outcome(s):

dose of gonadotropins, mean estradiol and progesterone levels, length of stimulation, number of retrieved oocytes, number of 2 pronuclei zygotes, fertilization rate, and clinical pregnancy rate.

Results of outcome(s):

Patients in Group A underwent 22 emergency IVF cycles for fertility preservation prior to chemotherapy. The mean number of days until human chorionic gonadotropin administration was 10.4+/-4.8.

There were no significant differences in any of the main outcome measures between the two groups. Thawed embryos were transferred in four cancer patients: two patients had colon cancer, one had breast cancer and one had pseudomyxoma peritonei. Two of these four women conceived and gave birth to healthy newborns.

Includes an economic evaluation

no