Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Apr 23;19(1):60.
doi: 10.1186/s12958-021-00747-8.

Strengthened luteal phase support for patients with low serum progesterone on the day of frozen embryo transfer in artificial endometrial preparation cycles: a large-sample retrospective trial

Hongyuan Gao  1 , Jing Ye  1 , Hongjuan Ye  2 , Qingqing Hong  3 , Lihua Sun  4 , Qiuju Chen  5
Affiliations

Strengthened luteal phase support for patients with low serum progesterone on the day of frozen embryo transfer in artificial endometrial preparation cycles: a large-sample retrospective trial

Hongyuan Gao et al. Reprod Biol Endocrinol. .

Abstract

Background: Low serum progesterone on the day of frozen embryo transfer (FET) is associated with diminished pregnancy rates in artificial endometrium preparation cycles, but there is no consensus on whether strengthened luteal phase support (LPS) benefits patients with low progesterone on the FET day in artificial cycles. This single-centre, large-sample retrospective trial was designed to investigate the contribution of strengthened LPS to pregnancy outcomes for groups with low progesterone levels on the FET day in artificial endometrium preparation cycles.

Methods: Women who had undergone the first artificial endometrium preparation cycle after a freeze-all protocol in our clinic from 2016 to 2018 were classified into two groups depending on their serum progesterone levels on the FET day. Routine LPS was administered to group B (P ≥ 10.0 ng/ml on the FET day, n = 1261), and strengthened LPS (routine LPS+ im P 40 mg daily) was administered to group A (P < 10.0 ng/ml on the FET day, n = 1295). The primary endpoint was the live birth rate, and the secondary endpoints were clinical pregnancy, miscarriage and neonatal outcomes.

Results: The results showed that the clinical pregnancy rate was significantly lower in group A than in group B (48.4% vs 53.2%, adjusted risk ratio (aRR) 0.81, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.68, 0.96), whereas miscarriage rates were similar between the two groups (16.0% vs 14.7%, aRR 1.09, 95% CI 0.77, 1.54). The live birth rate was slightly lower in group A than in group B (39.5% vs 43.3%, aRR 0.84, 95% CI 0.70, 1.0). Birthweights and other neonatal outcomes were similar between the two groups (P > 0.05).

Conclusions: The results indicated that the serum progesterone level on the FET day was one of the risk factors predicting the chances of pregnancy in artificial endometrium preparation cycles, and strengthened LPS in patients with low progesterone on the FET day might help to provide a reasonable pregnancy outcome in artificial cycles, although further prospective evidence is needed to confirm this possibility.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have nothing to declare.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The flowchart of this study
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Nawroth F, Ludwig M. What is the 'ideal' duration of progesterone supplementation before the transfer of cryopreserved-thawed embryos in estrogen/progesterone replacement protocols? Hum Reprod. 2005;20(5):1127–1134. doi: 10.1093/humrep/deh762. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Boynukalin FK, Gultomruk M, Turgut E, Demir B, Findikli N, Serdarogullari M, et al. Measuring the serum progesterone level on the day of transfer can be an additional tool to maximize ongoing pregnancies in single euploid frozen blastocyst transfers. Reprod Biol Endocrinol. 2019;17(1):102. doi: 10.1186/s12958-019-0549-9. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. van der Linden M, Buckingham K, Farquhar C, Kremer JA, Metwally M. Luteal phase support for assisted reproduction cycles. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2015;2015(7):CD009154. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Paulson RJ, Collins MG, Yankov VI. Progesterone pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics with 3 dosages and 2 regimens of an effervescent micronized progesterone vaginal insert. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2014;99(11):4241–4249. doi: 10.1210/jc.2013-3937. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Brady PC, Kaser DJ, Ginsburg ES, Ashby RK, Missmer SA, Correia KF, et al. Serum progesterone concentration on day of embryo transfer in donor oocyte cycles. J Assist Reprod Genet. 2014;31(5):569–575. doi: 10.1007/s10815-014-0199-y. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources