Oral oestradiol supplementation as luteal support in IVF/ICSI cycles: a prospective, randomized controlled study

To explore whether oral oestradiol (E2) supplementation (6 mg) in the luteal phase is beneficial to the outcome of patients undergoing gonadotrophin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRHa) long protocol in vitro fertilization (IVF)/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycles.

Prospective, randomized, controlled study at the IVF Clinic, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital. In total, 402 patients with an indication for IVF or ICSI were recruited. Patients were prospectively randomized to receive either progesterone injection plus oral E2 supplementation (Group A, n=202) or progesterone injection alone (Group B, n=200) as luteal support after oocyte retrieval. The main outcome measure was the clinical pregnancy rate.

No significant difference in the clinical pregnancy rate or miscarriage rate was observed between Group A and Group B (50.9% vs 58.0%, 14.6% vs 11.2%; p>0.05). In different age subgroups (≤35 years and >35 years) all measurements were comparable in patients with or without E2 supplementation, as well as in subgroups with different E2 levels on the day of human chorionic gonadotrophin injection (E2≥3000 pg/ml and E2<3000 pg/ml).

Adding E2 as luteal support did not increase the clinical pregnancy rate or reduce the miscarriage rate. Routine use of a combination of E2 and progesterone as luteal support in GnRHa long protocol IVF/ICSI cycles is not recommended.