Poor response of ovaries with endometrioma previously treated with cystectomy to controlled ovarian hyperstimulation

Should endometriomas be treated before IVF–ICSI cycles?

The laparoscopic excision of ovarian endometriomas appears to increase the chances of spontaneous conception, but the value of this treatment in women selected for IVF-ICSI cycles is debated. Studies recruiting women with unilateral disease and comparing ovarian responsiveness in the affected and contralateral intact gonads indicate that excision of endometriomas is associated with a quantitative damage to ovarian reserve. There are no randomized trials comparing laparoscopic excision to expectant management before IVF-ICSI cycles. The idea that surgery increases IVF pregnancy rates is not supported by the available evidence. However, the chance of conception is not the only issue that has to be considered. Some potential drawbacks are associated with both therapeutical strategies. Specifically, costs and hazard of surgical complications support expectant management whereas oocyte retrieval risks, the possibility of missing occult malignancy and endometriosis progression due to ovarian stimulation would favour surgical treatment. Alternative therapeutical options include medical treatment and ultrasound-guided aspiration. Whereas prolonged GnRH agonist down-regulation may be beneficial, data on ultrasound aspiration are more controversial.

Is laparoscopy necessary before assisted reproductive technology?

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Laparoscopy is widely used during infertility work-up, although it is sometimes unnecessary. This review highlights when laparoscopic intervention should be used in women undergoing assisted reproductive technology cycles.

RECENT FINDINGS

There is no evidence for an increase in pregnancy rates in assisted reproductive technology cycles following surgical treatment of pelvic adhesions or endometriosis with laparoscopy. If the patient has bilateral visible hydrosalpinges, laparoscopy may be an option for evaluation of the tubes and treatment with salpingectomy in order to enhance the chance of pregnancy before commencing an assisted reproductive technology cycle. Laparoscopic ovarian drilling before assisted reproductive technology may be considered a therapeutic option in polycystic ovary disease patients who previously had severe ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome. Finally, laparoscopy may be useful in replacing the transposed ovaries to their original sites in the pelvic cavity in previously treated cancer patients so that monitoring of the controlled ovarian hyperstimulation and the oocyte aspiration would be much easier during the assisted reproductive technology cycles.

SUMMARY

Laparoscopy should be considered before assisted reproductive technology cycles if the procedure diagnoses and treats a pelvic pathology at the same time and if laparoscopic intervention increases the chance of pregnancy following these cycles.

Laparoscopic stripping of endometriomas: a randomized trial on different surgical techniques. Part II: pathological results

BACKGROUND

The stripping technique for endometriomas excision has been reported to be associated with follicular loss. The objective of this trial was to evaluate the presence and nature of ovarian tissue adjacent to the endometrioma cyst wall obtained by stripping with different techniques.

METHODS

Forty-eight patients with ovarian endometrioma were enrolled in two consecutive independent randomized trials. Two different techniques were analysed at the initial adhesion site (circular excision and subsequent stripping versus immediate stripping). Two different techniques were analysed at the ovarian hilus (stripping versus coagulation and cutting). Histology analysis was performed in three portions of the cyst wall (initial adhesion site, intermediate part of the specimen, ovarian hilus).

RESULTS

Recognizable ovarian tissue was inadvertently excised together with the endometrioma cyst wall in most cases. At initial adhesion sites more ovarian tissue was removed with the circular excision technique (< 0.001). No significant difference in quality of ovarian tissue (number and type of follicles) was found between specimens obtained with different surgical techniques at the initial or at the final part of the procedure. At the initial adhesion site and at the intermediate part of the cyst wall, the ovarian tissue removed along with the endometrioma wall was mainly constituted by tissue with no follicles or only primordial follicles (60% and 48% of the specimens from the initial part with both techniques, and from the intermediate part, respectively, had no follicles or only primordial follicles). Close to the ovarian hilus the ovarian tissue removed along with the endometrioma wall mostly consisted of tissue which contained primary and secondary follicles (69% of the cases, combining the two groups).

CONCLUSIONS

Ovarian tissue is inadvertently excised together with the endometrioma wall in most cases. The excised tissue is at normal functional development stages only near the ovarian hilus. The different techniques used do not influence significantly the quality of the resected tissue.

A prospective, randomized study comparing laparoscopic ovarian cystectomy versus fenestration and coagulation in patients with endometriomas

OBJECTIVE

To determine the difference between two laparoscopic methods for the management of endometriomas with regard to recurrence of signs and symptoms and pregnancy rate.

DESIGN

Prospective, randomized clinical trial.

SETTING

Infertility and gynecologic endoscopy units of two medical university hospitals.

PATIENT(S)

One hundred patients with endometriomas who had either infertility or pelvic pain.

INTERVENTION(S)

Patients were randomly divided into two groups; one group underwent cystectomy (group 1), and fenestration and coagulation were performed for the other (group 2).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S)

A comparison of recurrence of signs and symptoms of endometriomas and pregnancy rates in two groups.

RESULT(S)

Fifty-two patients were studied in group 1 and 48 in group 2. The recurrence of symptoms, such as pelvic pain and dysmenorrhea, was 15.8% in group 1 and 56.7% in group 2 after 2 years. The rate of reoperation was 5.8% in group 1 and 22.9% in group 2 and these differences were statistically significant. The cumulative pregnancy rate was significantly higher in group 1 (59.4%) than in group 2 (23.3%) at 1-year follow-up.

CONCLUSION(S)

Laparoscopic cystectomy of endometriomas is a better choice than fenestration and coagulation because the former technique leads to a lower recurrence of signs and symptoms and a lower rate of reoperation and a higher cumulative pregnancy rate than the latter.

Gamete intra-fallopian transfer or intrauterine insemination after controlled ovarian hyperstimulation for treatment of infertility due to endometriosis

We compared the effectiveness of gamete intra-Fallopian transfer (GIFT) and intrauterine insemination (IUI) after controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (COH) in the treatment of infertility due to endometriosis. This was a retrospective study carried out at a tertiary teaching medical center. A total of 127 consecutive patients with endometriosis were treated with GIFT or IUI after COH between June 1990 and December 1998. Patients were divided into two groups. Group 1 (n = 97) included patients with stages 1 and 2 endometriosis, and group 2 (n = 30) included patients with stages 3 and 4 endometriosis. Laparoscopic conservative surgery for endometriosis was performed prior to IUI for patients in both group 1 and group 2. In group 1, 55 patients underwent 95 cycles of IUI after COH and 42 patients underwent 57 cycles of GIFT. In group 2, 14 patients underwent 16 cycles of IUI after COH, while 16 patients underwent 22 cycles of GIFT. The stimulation protocol for both GIFT and IUI was mid-luteal pituitary down-regulation with a gonadotropin releasing hormone agonist (GnRH-a) followed by gonadotropins. In group 1, the pregnancy rates (GIFT = 50.9%, IUI = 29.4%) and the delivery rates (GIFT = 28.1%, IUI = 14.7%) per cycle were significantly higher in GIFT compared to IUI (p = 0.009 and p = 0.05, respectively). There was no significant differences in the pregnancy rate (GIFT 69%, IUI 50.9%, respectively) or the delivery rate (GIFT 38.1%, IUI 25.5%) per patient. In group 2, there was no significant difference in the pregnancy rate (GIFT 54.5%, IUI 31.3%) or the delivery rate (GIFT 40.9%, IUI 12.5%) per cycle, but the difference in the pregnancy rate (GIFT 75%, IUI 35.7%) and the delivery rate (GIFT 56.3%, IUI 14.3%) per patient was significantly higher in GIFT compared to IUI (p = 0.04 and p = 0.02, respectively). We conclude that, when the same stimulation protocol is used in the early stages of endometriosis, a few cycles of IUI can achieve similar results to GIFT, and therefore should be used first. In advanced stages of endometriosis GIFT appears to be more effective.

Results of in vitro fertilization in patients with endometriomas: is surgical removal beneficial?

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of endometriomas on clinical pregnancy rates of in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer.

STUDY DESIGN

Infertile patients with endometriosis who underwent in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer were divided into group 1 patients who had a history of ovarian endometriomas and group 2 patients who did not. The patients in group 1 were further divided into group 1A who had their endometriomas removed by laparoscopic ovarian cystectomy before the start of in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer and group 1B who underwent in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer with the presence of endometriomas. The clinical pregnancy rates of these groups were compared.

RESULTS

Clinical pregnancy rates per transfer were similar in group 1 and group 2 (40% vs 47%; P =.38) and similar in patients in group 1A and group 1B (47% vs 34%; P =.28), although the direction was toward improved pregnancy rates in the groups of patients without endometriomas present at the time of in vitro fertilization stimulation. When patients >39 years of age were excluded, the overall pregnancy rate was higher in those patients who had no current endometriomas than in those patients who had endometriomas present at the time of stimulation (65% vs 39%; P =.05). For patients with unilateral endometriomas, similar numbers of mature oocytes were aspirated between the affected and unaffected ovaries.

CONCLUSION

Although the history of endometriomas does not appear to affect in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer outcomes adversely, there may be a benefit in the removal of endometriomas before in vitro fertilization.

In vitro fertilization in patients with ovarian endometrioma

PURPOSE

To assess the influence of ovarian endometrioma during IVF.

METHODS

Patients were submitted to cystectomy by the laparoscopic route for exeresis of ovarian endometrioma. Group I (n = 28) consisted of patients without ovarian endometrioma and group II (n = 14) consisted of patients with recurrence of ovarian endometrioma during IVF.

RESULTS

Fertilization and cleavage rates were higher in group I and the pregnancy rate per transfer was similar in the two groups.

CONCLUSIONS

The presence of endometrioma during IVF causes a worsening of oocyte fertilization and embryo cleavage but does not affect the pregnancy rate per transfer.

Bipolar Electrocoagulation versus Suture of Solitary Ovary after Laparoscopic Excision of Ovarian Endometriomas

STUDY OBJECTIVE

To compare the functional ovarian damage associated with the use of bipolar coagulation versus ovarian suture after laparoscopic excision of ovarian endometriomas in patients with a solitary ovary.

DESIGN

Retrospective study (Canadian Task Force classification II-3).

SETTING

Tertiary care center.

PATIENTS

Forty-seven consecutive women with a single ovary and regular menses who underwent laparoscopic stripping of one or more ovarian endometriomas between June 1996 and June 2001. Intervention. Twenty-one patients had bipolar electrocoagulation (group A), while 26 had suturing of the ovary (group B). Plasma follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and estradiol levels were determined before surgery and re-evaluated at 3-, 6-, and 12-month follow-up.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS

At 12-month follow-up, six patients (29%) in group A had oligo-amenorrhea versus three patients (12%) in group B (p = .14). Follicle-stimulating hormone levels between 10 and 20 mlU/mL were found in five patients (24%) in group A and in three patients (12%) in group B, whereas FSH levels above 20 mlU/mL were found in three patients (14%) in group A and in no patient in group B. Eight patients (38%) in group A had FSH levels greater than 10 mlU/mL versus three patients (12%) in group B (p = .042). Overall, repeated analysis of variance showed a marginally significant difference (p = .06) in FSH values between the two groups.

CONCLUSION

Our results suggest that bipolar electrocoagulation of the ovarian parenchyma after laparoscopic stripping of an endometriotic ovarian cyst adversely affects ovarian function.

Laparoscopic removal of endometriomas: sonographic evaluation of residual functioning ovarian tissue

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to determine whether and to what extent laparoscopic removal of ovarian endometriotic cysts is a tissue-sparing procedure.

STUDY DESIGN

At the University Hospital, 77 women of reproductive age with endometriomas and 55 with dermoid cysts underwent laparoscopic removal of the ovarian disease by stripping. Within 1 month before and within 36 months after surgery all patients underwent transvaginal sonographic evaluation of ovarian volume of the endometriomas or dermoid cysts and measurement of the residual ovarian tissue.

RESULTS

The residual ovarian volume after surgery was significantly less for the endometrioma group than for the dermoid group. Comparison of the volume of the treated ovary with that of the untreated contralateral ovary showed a significant difference (4.3+/-2.3 cm(3) vs 9.7+/-3.9 cm(3)) only in the endometrioma group.

CONCLUSION

Ovarian stripping of endometriomas, but not of ovarian dermoids, is associated with a significant decrease in residual ovarian volume which may result in diminished ovarian reserve and function.

Prediction of ovarian reserve based on day-3 serum follicle stimulating hormone concentrations during the pituitary suppression cycle using a gonadotropin releasing hormone agonist in patients undergoing in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer

Satisfactory results following in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET) treatments depend on retrieving an appropriate number of mature oocytes without causing the development of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS). The present study was carried out to investigate whether the ovarian reserve is predictable based on the day-3 serum concentration of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) during the pituitary suppression cycle using a gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist (defined as day-3 FSH) in patients undergoing IVF-ET treatment. Day-3 FSH before the administration of gonadotropin was assessed in 72 IVF-ET cycles from 59 infertile women. The mean+/-SD of day-3 FSH, the total amount of FSH plus human menopausal gonadotropin (hMG) administered, and the total number of oocytes retrieved was 5.5+/-2.6 mIU/ml, 2834.2+/-1236.5 IU and 7.7+/-5.8, respectively. There were significant correlations between day-3 FSH and the total amount of FSH-hMG administered (p < 0.001), and day-3 FSH and total number of oocytes retrieved (p < 0.001). There was a significant difference of day-3 FSH between patients who subsequently conceived (4.4+/-1.3 mIU/ml) and those who did not conceive (6.1+/-2.9 mIU/ml) (p = 0.001). There was also a significant difference of day-3 FSH between patients who developed moderate or severe OHSS (4.5+/-1.2 mIU/ml) and those who did not (5.9+/-2.8 mIU/ml) (p = 0.003). Receiver-operator characteristic curve analysis showed that the significant cut-off point for day-3 FSH for predicting ovarian reserve was 5.25 mIU/ml. These findings indicate that day 3-FSH is usefulfor predicting ovarian reserve during the pituitary suppression cycle using a GnRH agonist in patients undergoing IVF-ET.

Management of endometriosis in fertility patients

The management of endometriosis in fertility patients remains empiric. Adverse effects on every reproductive component have been reported. How to counsel couples regarding treatment and the effects of endometriosis on fertility is still uncertain.