What should be the maximum FSH dose in IVF/ICSI in poor responders?

Abstract

Various protocols of ovarian stimulation have been proposed for optimising IVF/ICSI results in women presenting with a poor response to controlled ovarian stimulation; however, achieving a good response to stimulation for this category of patients still remains a challenge. The most extensively employed strategy to improve follicular response in these so-called 'poor responders' involves the use of high doses of gonadotrophins. A small number of randomised controlled trials and retrospective studies have evaluated the effectiveness of the high-dose FSH regimes over a 300 IU threshold. The results of these studies have shown these approaches to be of little or no clinical benefit, although both the costs of treatment and side-effects were higher. There are other studies that have examined 450 IU FSH regimens or even more. This paper presents an overview in all these clinical trials, trying to evaluate the safest and most effective upper limit of FSH that may be used for controlled ovarian hyperstimulation.