Cumulative probability of clinical pregnancy and live birth after a multiple cycle IVF package: a more realistic assessment of overall and age-specific success rates?

Abstract

Objective: To provide an assessment of pregnancy and live birth probabilities for women presenting for in vitro fertilisation treatment for the first time, when committed in advance to have up to three cycles of treatment in one year.

Design: Up to three cycles of in vitro fertilisation within one year, committed in advance.

Setting: A tertiary referral centre for assisted reproduction.

Participants: Two hundred and thirty-two women, undergoing a total of 536 cycles of in vitro fertilisation or intracytoplasmic sperm injection between August 1993 and December 1995.

Methods: Analysis of cumulative clinical pregnancy and live birth rates for women having IVF treatment for the first time and undertaking a three-cycle package, using the life-table approach.

Main outcome measures: Cumulative clinical pregnancy and live birth rates.

Results: The cumulative probabilities of clinical pregnancy and live birth after two cycles of treatment were 38.2% and 33.2%, respectively, compared with 54.2% and 48.2%, respectively, after three cycles of treatment. Cumulative clinical pregnancy and live birth rates after three cycles of treatment for women up to the age of 40 years were 57.8% and 51.3%, respectively. Cumulative clinical pregnancy and live birth rates declined with increasing age (P = 0.02 and P= 0.01, respectively).

Conclusion: The three-cycle package encourages couples to have multiple treatment cycles, thereby improving their ultimate chances of a live birth. The cumulative clinical pregnancy and live birth rates after such a package provide a more realistic assessment of overall and age-specific success rates after multiple treatment cycles.