The association between poor ovarian response and thrombophilia in assisted reproduction

To investigate the association between thrombophilic risk factors and poor ovarian response in an assisted reproductive technologies (ART) setting.

This is a preliminary prospective cohort study in a university affiliated reproductive medicine unit. Eighty-nine infertile women undergoing IVF-ET treatment were recruited. Following IVF-ET treatment, the 28 women that had ≤ 3 oocytes on retrieval were the study group, and the 61 women that had ≥ 4 oocytes on retrieval were the control group. All women underwent ovarian reserve testing and thrombophilia work-up prior to treatment.

Patients' characteristics, except for chronological age, were similar between the two groups. Women in the study group had clear manifestations of low ovarian reserve, evident by ovarian reserve testing, controlled ovarian hyper-stimulation and IVF-ET treatment results, as compared to the control group. The incidence of all thrombophilias tested was similar between the study and control group. Moreover, the incidence of any single or combined thrombophilia was also similar between the two groups. Logistic regression model analysis and Pearson correlation tests did not show significant correlation between number of oocytes retrieved and thrombophilia. Furthermore, basal ovarian reserve tests did not differ between women with and without thrombophilia. When only the 48 women ≤ 35 years of were analyzed, the five women in the study group had significantly higher incidence of a single as well as combined thrombophilia as compared to the 43 controls.

Thrombophilic risk factors have no correlation with poor ovarian response in the general infertile population undergoing ART. Whether premature low ovarian reserve is linked to thrombophilia remains to be established.