Serum CA-125 values on the day of oocyte retrieval are not predictive of subsequent pregnancy with in-vitro fertilization

I Noci, Ivo Noci, Mario Maggi, M Maggi, Roberto Biagiotti, R Biagiotti, A D'agata, L Criscuoli, Luciana Criscuoli, Mauro Marchionni, M Marchionni
Human Reproduction · 1999 · vol. 14(7) , pp. 1773–1776 · doi:10.1093/humrep/14.7.1773 · PMID:10402387 · W2027177588
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Abstract

In the clinical management of in-vitro fertilization (IVF) patients it would be very useful to know, before the embryo transfer, whether or not there is a significant chance of pregnancy in that cycle. If low, it would be better to freeze the embryos and postpone the embryo transfer to a subsequent cycle. For this reason, a retrospective study was carried out to investigate the correlations between the serum CA-125 values before embryo transfer and the clinical outcome of that IVF cycle. Women aged <40 years undergoing a complete infertility evaluation including laparoscopy and receiving gonadotrophin-releasing hormone analogue (GnRHa) suppression followed by purified follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) for IVF-embryo transfer were entered into the study. Ninety-seven cycles qualified for evaluation (26 pregnant and 71 non-pregnant cycles). CA-125 concentrations on the day of oocyte retrieval were significantly lower in the pregnant versus non-pregnant cycles in both non-endometriosis and endometriosis patients. To evaluate the existence of a cut-off value of CA-125 which would allow the prediction of a possible pregnancy with sufficient specificity and sensitivity, a receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was performed. This analysis demonstrated the absence of any predictive value of the subsequent pregnancy for CA-125 concentrations. For this reason, and in contrast with previous findings, CA-125 determinations before the embryo transfer in IVF patients do not appear to be a useful tool for clinicians to use in predicting the outcome of IVF in any given cycle.

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mesh:D004715endometriosisinfertility

MeSH descriptors

CA-125 Antigen Fertilization in Vitro Oocytes Adult CA-125 Antigen Embryo Transfer Endometriosis Endometriosis Female Humans Infertility Infertility Infertility Infertility Male Predictive Value of Tests Pregnancy Pregnancy Outcome Retrospective Studies ROC Curve

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