Background: The effect of repeated controlled ovarian stimulation in young, healthy women who consented to donate their oocytes was assessed through a retrospective study.
Methods and results: Between March 1994 and February 2000, 284 donors consented to at least two controlled ovarian stimulation cycles, with four donors undergoing up to nine cycles. Through an intra-group analysis we studied the oocyte retrieval rate, controlled by the duration and doses of stimulation, as well as the interval between cycles, finding that the number of retrieved oocytes was maintained during repeated controlled ovarian stimulation cycles. The oocyte quality, assessed as fertilization, implantation and pregnancy rates, was similar through five repeated controlled ovarian stimulation cycles. The same result was obtained when the interval in days was analysed as a continuous variable or categorized in <90 and > or =90 days.
Conclusions: The analysis of the data suggests that successive stimulation cycles do not impair ovarian response in terms of quantity and quality of the oocytes obtained in this group of women. Furthermore, the interval between cycles does not influence the result of the stimulations.