Does the addition of recombinant luteinizing hormone to progesterone for luteal supplementation improve IVF outcomes in high-responder patients? A preliminary randomized controlled study.

To determine the impact of recombinant luteinizing hormone (rLH) combined with vaginal progesterone (P)for luteal supplementation on in vitro fertilization (IVF) pregnancy outcomes in high-responder patients undergoing long gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist cycles.A total of 47 patients undergoing IVF cycles with the serum estradiol levels of > or = 2,500 pg/mL on the day of human chorionic gonadotropin administration were included in this prospective randomized study. Patients were divided into 2 treatment groups: the control group (n = 23) used luteal vaginal P, and the study group (n = 24) received a combination of vaginal P and 75 IU rLH, 4 doses every 3 days, starting on the day of embryo transfer. The main outcome measure was the clinical pregnancy rate (PR).The study group had 11 pregnancies (45.8%), while the control group had 6 (26.1%). There was no significant difference between the groups in clinical PRs (p = 0.15). No differences were found with respect to the implantation rate, miscarriage rate, and multiple PR.Our data show that luteal supplementation with rLH combined to vaginal P was not found to improve pregnancy outcomes in high responder patients undergoing long GnRH agonist IVF treatments.