Immunomodulatory treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin and prednisone in patients with recurrent miscarriage and implantation failure after in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection

Objective: To assess outcome in terms of live-birth rate after fresh or frozen IVF/intracytoplasmic sperm injection assisted reproductive technology (ART) cycles where immunomodulation was given to patients with recurrent pregnancy loss after prior ART treatments.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: Tertiary care university hospital.

Patient(s): Fifty-two patients with a history of at least three consecutive pregnancy losses after ART who underwent at least one further ART cycle with concurrent immunomodulation in 2003-2012.

Intervention(s): Immunomodulation with IV immunoglobulin and prednisone starting from before ET and continuing in the first trimester if pregnancy was established.

Main outcome measure(s): Live-birth rate per ET and cumulative live-birth rate after up to five ETs.

Result(s): Nineteen patients (36.5%) achieved a live birth after the first ET with immunomodulation, and a total of 32 patients achieved a live birth in the study period, resulting in a cumulative live-birth rate of 61.5%. There was no significant difference in baseline and immunological parameters between the patients achieving a live birth or not. The live-birth rate after the first immunomodulated ART cycle in our patients is higher than that reported in a previous study.

Conclusion(s): Immunomodulation with a combination of IV immunoglobulin and prednisone is a promising treatment for recurrent pregnancy loss after ART, but randomized placebo-controlled trials are needed.