Which is worse? Comparison of ART outcome between women with primary or recurrent endometriomas
Baris Ata1, Sezcan Mumusoglu2, Kiper Aslan3
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Koc University School of Medicine, Davutpasa Caddesi No 4, Topkapi, Istanbul 34010, Turkey.
Study Questi̇On:
Are live birth rates (LBR) different after ART cycles between women with primary or recurrent endometrioma?
Summary Answer:
Women with recurrent endometrioma have similar LBR as compared to patients with primary endometrioma.
What Is Already Known:
Recurrence rate can be as high as 29% after endometrioma excision. Prior studies on management of endometrioma before ART involve primary endometriomas. There is limited information regarding the prognosis of women with recurrent endometriomas.
Study Design, Size, Duration:
A multicenter retrospective cohort study, including 76 women with primary and 82 women with recurrent endometriomas treated at the participating centers over a 6-year period.
Participants/Materials, Setting, Methods:
Women with endometrioma who underwent ART at three academic ART centers. Couples with another indication for ART were excluded.
Main Results And The Role Of Chance:
Female age, median number of prior failed ART cycles, proportion of patients with bilateral endometrioma (28 versus 28.9%), ovarian stimulation protocols, and total gonadotropin consumption were similar between the study groups. Numbers of metaphase two oocytes (5 versus 6), number of embryos transferred, and the proportion of patients undergoing blastocyst transfer were similar across the study groups. Clinical pregnancy rates (36.6 versus 34.2%, absolute difference 2.4%, 95% CI: -12.5 to 17.3%, P = 0.83) and LBR (35.4 versus 30.3%, absolute difference 5.1%, 95% CI: -9.5 to 19.7%, P = 0.51) per started cycle in recurrent and primary endometrioma were similar. Comparable success rates were also confirmed with logistic regression analysis (OR: 1.14, 95% CI: 0.78-0.57, P = 2.3).
Limitations, Reasons For Caution:
The retrospective design has inherent limitations. Some women with severely decreased ovarian reserve after primary endometrioma excision may not have pursued further treatment.
Wider Implications Of The Findings:
The management of endometrioma prior to ART is controversial but a different management strategy is not required for recurrent endometriomas. Since recurrent endometriomas do not have a worse impact on ART outcome than primary endometriomas, and repeat surgery has a higher risk for complications, conservative management without surgery can be justified.
Study Funding/Competing Interest(S):
No funding or competing interests to declare.
Trial Registration Number:
None.
