Pituitary Down-regulation Before IVF for Women With Endometriosis
Status:
Terminated
Trial end date:
2013-11-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Endometriosis is a hormone dependent disease of women, in which endometrial tissue (the cells
which line the uterus or womb) are found outside the uterus (womb). Some women with
endometriosis may be infertile. However, treatments for infertility such as in vitro
fertilization (IVF) or IVF with intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF-ICSI) appear to be less
successful, i.e. the pregnancy rates are lower, for women with endometriosis than for women
who may be infertile for other reasons.
Since endometriosis is hormone dependent, it has been suggested that suppressing the activity
of hormones produced by the ovaries (which affect endometrial growth) may inactivate
endometriosis and so increase the chances of pregnancy. Recently it has been proposed that
taking the oral contraceptive pill (OCP) for 6 to 8 weeks before IVF or IVF-ICSI treatment
could be used for this purpose.
For our study, which is a randomised controlled trial, women with endometriosis meeting the
study criteria planning to undergo IVF or IVF-ICSI at the Oxford Fertility Unit will be
recruited. Study participants will be randomised into 2 arms: experimental group and control
group. The experimental group will be instructed to complete an 8 week course of OCP before
beginning standard IVF treatment. The control group do not take any study medication before
beginning standard IVF treatment. The IVF or IVF-ICSI treatment for both groups is not
altered by participation in the study.
The aim of the study will be to determine if pretreatment with OCP improves IVF or IVF-ICSI
success rates, such as live birth and pregnancy rates, in patients who suffer from
endometriosis. The study is funded by the Oxford Fertility Unit.