[In vitro maturation--a potential approach of infertility treatment of patients with PCOS]

Abstract

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) affects about 15-20% of women of reproductive age. This is a heterogeneous condition characterized by a combination of menstrual cycle disturbances, hyperandrogenism and polycystic ovaries. A significant percent of these women comes to the necessity of assisted reproduction procedure. During the conventional procedure of in vitro fertilization (IVF) the patients are being exposed to a controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (COH) with gonadothropine hormones with the purpose of ensuring collection of numerous mature oocytes for fertilization and respectively obtaining numerous embryos for selection and embryotransfer. The supraphysiological doses of exogenous gonadothropines used for COH often lead to an excessive ovarian response, characterized by the development of numerous follicles of different size and different quality, aspiration of immature oocytes and higher risk of severe ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) in women with PCOS. The retrieval of immature oocytes from unstimulated ovaries followed by in vitro maturation (IVM) procedure appears a potential therapy which eliminates aforenamed risks and respectively is highly beneficial for application to women with PCOS.