Concomitant Administration of FSH With HCG Improves Oocyte Maturation and Quality Double -Blinded Randomized Trial

Marcelle Cedars, M.D., Victor Fujimoto, M.D., Mitch Rosen, M.D., Heather Huddleston, M.D., Paolo Rinaudo, M.D., Anthony Dobson, M.D., and Shehua Shen, M.D. from the UCSF Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences are conducting a study to learn about ovarian stimulation and oocyte maturation to improve fertilization, embryo quality, implantation and clinical pregnancy rates in patients undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF). Two hormones, follicle stimulating hormone and human chorionic gonadotropin (FSH/hCG) will be compared to the standard one hormone, hCG, for the ovulation trigger. Over the past two decades, the success rate of assisted reproductive technology (ART) has dramatically increased. This increase has largely been attributed to improvements in the laboratory conditions and improvements in ovarian stimulation protocols (those medications used to increase the number of eggs maturing each cycle). Less work has been done on different ways to cause the final maturation of the eggs and the release of the egg from the ovary. The investigators propose to change the final injection prior to the egg retrieval (the ovulation trigger) so that it looks more like what happens in a normal menstrual cycle, where two hormones (both luteinizing hormone (LH) and FSH) increase. The investigators want to find out if this will improve egg quality and increase chances for pregnancy.