Australian research presented at a global fertility conference paves the way for more precise, individualised management of the ‘golden window’ phase in IVF.
A new study presented at the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) 38th Annual Meeting (3-6 July 2022), one of the world’s biggest fertility conferences, provides a better understanding of how progesterone levels in the blood, during the luteal or ‘golden window’ phase, can affect pregnancy results for IVF patients.
Researcher Dr Genia Rozen, Fertility Specialist at Melbourne IVF (part of Virtus Health) said individualising progesterone levels, during the luteal phase, which occurs after egg collection is largely under-studied.
“Currently all IVF and ICSI patients are given the same dose of progesterone, to help prepare the endometrium for when the embryo is transferred back to the uterus. We wanted to understand this area more, which is why we embarked on the study, with the aim of individualising progesterone levels for patients,” said Dr Rozen.
“The one-year study comprised IVF and ICSI patients who had a fresh, day 5 single embryo transfer (SET). Overall, 825 first and second stimulation cycles were included in the study.
“The study results show a test to measure the amount of progesterone in the blood on the day of the embryo transfer, in stimulated cycles, does not correlate with improved reproductive outcomes.
“Now that we can demonstrate that progesterone levels on the day of embryo transfer do not impact pregnancy outcomes, our focus is to continue researching the endometrial environment, to gain meaningful conclusions regarding progesterone levels,” said Dr Rozen.
“Progesterone levels in the blood stream are only a surrogate marker; they are not always reflective of what’s happening in the uterus which is where the embryo is being transferred to,” said Dr Rozen.
Dr Rozen explains that endometrial receptivity is a key factor behind IVF implantation failure. “Our aim is to uncover more precise ways to predict how receptive the endometrial is.
“This study paves the way for more precise, individualised management of the luteal phase in IVF,” said Dr Rozen.
Dr Rozen explains that as the fertility landscape evolves to a future of personalised medicine, this future state requires an integrated healthcare system that connects GPs, patients, and fertility specialists, supported by the analysis of personalised data, augmented by AI.
Virtus Health’s in-house research is constantly looking to optimise every aspect of IVF, aiming to improve pregnancy success rates. This aligns with the creation of Precision Fertility™, our global digital transformation program which is paving the way for precision medicine to be the future of fertility care.