Abstract
Outcome of IVF in DES-exposed daughters: experience in the 90s, Journal of assisted reproduction and genetics, NCBI PubMed PMID: 9401869, 1997 Oct.
Full text: Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics, Vol. 14, No. 9, 1997, NCBI PubMed PMC3454843, 1997 Oct.
Purpose
The outcome of in vitro fertilization (IVF) in a group of infertile women with a history of in utero exposure to diethylstilbestrol (DES) was analyzed. Records from an academic IVF program were retrospectively reviewed.
Methods
Seventeen infertile women with a self-reported history of exposure to DES in utero, attending the IVF unit at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) for assisted reproductive technology (ART), underwent 27 IVF cycles. Analysis of the outcome of IVF including implantation and ongoing pregnancy rates was performed. The data were compared with results from a group of 20 infertile patients with idiopathic infertility undergoing 27 IVF cycles at MGH during the same period. The patients in the two groups were matched for age, basal day 3 levels of follicle stimulating hormone and serum estradiol, and the number and quality of embryos transferred.
Results
The response to controlled ovarian hyperstimulation was comparable in the two groups. Significantly lower implantation and ongoing pregnancy rates following IVF and embryo transfer were seen in the utero DES-exposed group compared to the control patients.
- This study confirms a poor outcome of IVF in infertile women with a history of in utero exposure to DES. The significantly impaired implantation rate (2%) following IVF in this category of infertile women is striking and concordant with earlier reported data.
- The risk of ectopic pregnancy is quoted to be eight times greater in women with a history of exposure to DES and appears to be the leading factor contributing to a poor reproductive performance in this group.
- No prognostic implication could be attributed to the presence of a T-shaped uterine cavity in terms of ability to conceive and carry a pregnancy to term. Of the two successful IVF cycles in the DES-exposed group, one of the patients had a T-shaped uterine abnormality, while in the second patient the uterine cavity was hypoplastic.
Conclusions
This study determined impaired implantation to be a major factor contributing to infertility in women undergoing IVF with a history of in utero exposure to DES. The ovarian response to controlled hyperstimulation, the fertilization and cleavage rates, and the embryo quality remain unaffected in these patients. The mechanism for implantation failure remains obscure and the prognosis for ART is guarded for patients exposed to DES in utero.
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