O-001 Delay in IVF treatment up to 180 days does not affect pregnancy outcomes in women with diminished ovarian reserve
Authors: Romanski P , Bortoletto P , Rosenwaks Z , Schattman G 
Published: August 2021

Abstract text

In clinical practice, infertility treatment delays can occur due to medical, logistical, or financial reasons. Concerns over treatment delays were brought to the forefront in March 2020 when the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic prompted both the ESHRE and ASRM to recommend the suspension of new infertility treatment cycles. At the time, little was known about the risk of viral transmission on reproductive health and necessary medical resources urgently needed to be reallocated to the front lines of the pandemic. These society recommendations were met with resistance from some clinicians and patients that raised valid concerns about whether delaying IVF treatment for a few months could negatively affect pregnancy outcomes.

To help answer this question, we designed a retrospective cohort study to assess whether a delay up to 180 days in initiating IVF treatment affects pregnancy outcomes in infertile women with diminished ovarian reserve. This population was selected because their treatment outcomes were the most likely to affected by treatment delays due to the continuous decline in ovarian reserve over time. Infertile women treated at our IVF center were included if they had diminished ovarian reserve and started an ovarian stimulation cycle within 180 days of their initial consultation that resulted in an oocyte retrieval with planned fresh embryo transfer between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2018. Diminished ovarian reserve was defined as an anti-Mŭllerian hormone (AMH) &lt; 1.1 ng/mL.

In total, 1,790 patients met inclusion criteria (1,115 immediate and 675 delayed treatment). Each patient had one included cycle and no subsequent data from additional frozen embryo transfer cycles were included. Since all cycle outcomes evaluated were from fresh embryo transfers, no genetically tested embryos were included. Patients were grouped by whether their cycle started 1-90 days after presentation (immediate) or 91-180 days (delayed). The primary outcome was live birth (≥24 weeks of gestation). A subgroup analysis of more severe forms of diminished ovarian reserve was performed to evaluate outcomes for patients with an AMH &lt; 0.5 and for patients &gt;40 years old with an AMH &lt; 1.1 ng/mL (Bologna criteria for diminished ovarian reserve). Logistic regression analysis, adjusted a priori for patient age, was used to estimate the odds ratio (OR) with a 95% CI. All pregnancy outcomes were additionally adjusted for the number of embryos transferred.

The mean ± SD number of days from presentation to IVF start was 50.5 ± 21.9 (immediate) and 128.8 ± 25.9 (delayed). After embryo transfer, the live birth rate was similar between groups (immediate: 23.9%; delayed: 25.6%; OR 1.08, 95% CI 0.85-1.38). Additionally, a similar live birth rate was observed in a subgroup analysis of patients with an AMH &lt; 0.5 ng/mL (immediate: 18.8%; delayed: 19.1%; OR 0.99, 95% CI 0.65-1.51) and in patients &gt;40 years old with an AMH &lt; 1.1 ng/mL (immediate: 12.3%; delayed: 14.7%; OR 1.21, 95% CI 0.77-1.91).

Overall, we observed that a delay in initiating IVF treatment up to 180 days does not affect the live birth rate for women with diminished ovarian reserve when compared to women who initiate IVF treatment within 90 days of presentation. This observation persisted for patients who in the highest-risk categories for poor response to ovarian stimulation. Providers and patients should be reassured that when a short-term treatment delay is deemed necessary for medical, logistical, or financial reasons, treatment outcomes will not be negatively affected.