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Updated: Aug 29, 2026

Fertility Preservation Through Oocyte Vitrification: Clinical and Laboratory Perspectives
Published on: September 16, 2021
Increased rates of thrombophilia in women with repeated IVF failures
Foad Azem1, Ariel Many, Ido Ben Ami
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Lis Maternity Hospital and Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. azemf@tasmc.health.gov.il
Background:
We investigated whether hereditary thrombophilia is more prevalent in women with recurrent IVF-embryo transfer failures.
Methods:
This case-control study was conducted in an academic tertiary care hospital and compared 45 women with a history of four or more failed IVF cycles (group A) with 44 apparently healthy women matched for age and ethnic origin (group B). All participants were tested for inherited thrombophilias: mutations of prothrombin, factor V Leiden and methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR), and protein C, protein S and antithrombin III deficiencies.
Results:
Excluding homozygotic MTHFR, the incidence of thrombophilia in group A, was 26.7% compared with 9.1% in group B (P = 0.003; odds ratio 2.9; 95% confidence interval 1.02-8.4). The incidence of thrombophilia in women with unexplained infertility in group A was 42.9% (9/21), compared with 18.2% in group B (P < 0.002).
Conclusions:
These data suggest that inherited thrombophilia may play a role in the aetiology of repeated IVF failures, particularly in the subgroup with unexplained fertility.
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