OBJECTIVE: Implantation window (IW) remains one of the most
important challenges in Reproductive Medicine. Several clinical trials
have been developed with the aim to assess the possible effects of
different techniques in increasing the implantation rate. However, it
hasn’t been found any evidence statistically significant at the moment,
as is the case of the Endometrial Scratch (ES). Endometrial Immunological
Profile (EIP) has also been studied as a possible mechanism
involved in the implantation stage and its treatment (when an alteration
is diagnosed), is claimed to improve pregnancy rates. Our aim was to evaluate the effect of a specific treatment for EIP in patients undergoing
an egg donation cycle (incl... More
OBJECTIVE: Implantation window (IW) remains one of the most
important challenges in Reproductive Medicine. Several clinical trials
have been developed with the aim to assess the possible effects of
different techniques in increasing the implantation rate. However, it
hasn’t been found any evidence statistically significant at the moment,
as is the case of the Endometrial Scratch (ES). Endometrial Immunological
Profile (EIP) has also been studied as a possible mechanism
involved in the implantation stage and its treatment (when an alteration
is diagnosed), is claimed to improve pregnancy rates. Our aim was to evaluate the effect of a specific treatment for EIP in patients undergoing
an egg donation cycle (including steroids, luteal Hcg, pentoxifiline,
vitamin E and high progesterone doses) compared to another group of
patients who underwent an endometrial scratch, in terms of pregnancy
rate.
DESIGN: We retrospectively reviewed from Jan 2014 to Dec 2016, 69 egg
donation cycles: 19 with EIP and specific interventions and 50 patients with
ES performed the cycle prior to embryo transfer.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analysed their results in terms of
pregnancy rate (PR) and compared basal characteristics. All patients
were prepared for the embryo transfer with the conventional oestrogen
plus progesterone protocol. Those patients in the EIP group received
the specific treatment according to the immunological profile, performed
1 to 6 months before the embryo transfer. Patients in the ES
group were performed an endometrial scratch 3 to 6 weeks before the
embryo transfer.
RESULTS: Patients in both groups had comparable endometrial
thicknesses after their preparations (Mean 8.37mm for EIP and
7.87mm for ES, p¼0.23). The proportion of D3 and D5 embryos
was equivalent in both groups (73% for EIP group vs 74% for ES).
The overall PR was higher but not statistically significant in the
ES group compared to the EIP group (48,0% Vs. 42,1%, P¼0,14).
Nevertheless, the average embryo quality was significantly higher in
the ES group (A quality embryos in EIP group 13.0%, A quality embryos
in ES group 53.6%, p¼0.03), what may be a confounding factor
for the previous results. In addition, the number of days between
the endometrial biopsy for inmunological assessment and the embryo
transfer (Mean¼159,2) was significantly higher than the number of
days between the endometrial scratch and the embryo transfer
(Mean¼40,9).
CONCLUSIONS: Our retrospective study was unable to detect any differences
between patients treated with endometrial scratch or a specific
immunological treatment, after the diagnosis of implantation failure. Our
results have to be carefully analysed as there is a limited number of cases
and the design of this study is retrospective. Thus, further studies are
required to assess the possible effect of endometrial scratch or immunological
therapy.