Objective: The following study was conducted to determine which FSH, recombinant or urinary, works better in older women.
Design: We conducted a controlled randomized study in a single university IVF center.
Setting: University IVF center.
Patient(s): Women (N = 257) over 39 years old undergoing IVF.
Intervention(s): The patients were randomized into two study groups at their first IVF cycle: 121 patients were treated with recombinant FSH, and 120 patients were treated with urinary FSH. Both groups were suppressed with a long GnRH analog protocol.
Main outcome measure(s): Days of stimulation, E2 at the day of hCG, total amount of FSH administered, number of oocytes collected, amount of FSH per oocyte, and number of embryos obtained.
Result(s): Patients treated with urinary FSH required a significantly lower total amount of FSH, and a lower amount of FSH per oocyte than women treated with recombinant FSH. The other measures evaluated did not show any statistically significant differences.
Conclusion(s): Our study showed that urinary FSH performed better in older women than recombinant FSH when associated with the long protocol.