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Updated: Jul 18, 2026
Fertility Preservation Through Oocyte Vitrification: Clinical and Laboratory Perspectives
Published on: September 16, 2021
Does previous response to clomifene citrate influence the selection of gonadotropin dosage given in subsequent
Tien Huu Nguyen1, Martin S Lennard, Cyrus Ghobadi
1Academic Unit of Clinical Pharmacology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom.
Purpose:
To determine whether ovarian response to previous clomifene treatment could influence the selection of the starting dose of gonadotropins in subsequent in vitro fertilization (IVF) or intra uterine insemination (IUI).
Methods:
Forty three anovular women who had received clomifene for ovulation induction followed by gonadotropins for IUI or IVF superovulation were reviewed retrospectively. Data on gonadotropin dose were compared between clomifene-resistant patients and clomifene responders.
Results:
IVF patients who had had prior superovulation/IUI treatment received similar doses of gonadotropins regardless of response to clomifene (1610 IU versus 1560 IU, p = 0.74). In IVF patients not receiving prior IUI treatment, the clomifene-resistant women were given higher doses of gonadotropins than those responding to clomifene (2500 IU versus 1440 IU, p = 0.042).
Conclusions:
We found that, in our Unit, clinicians appeared to use prior non-response to clomifene as a reason for prescribing a higher starting dose of gonadotropins in IVF treatment, a practice that is not evidence-based.
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