Extended letrozole therapy for ovulation induction in women with polycystic ovary syndrome

1. Extended letrozole therapy for ovulation induction in women with polycystic ovary syndrome Ashraf Aleyasin , Marzieh Agha Hosseini , Leila Safdarian , Atossa Mahdavi , Fatemeh Bahmaee Infertility department, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences Objectives Methods Results There was 46 pcos patients in long letrozole therapy group and 61 pcos patients in short letrozole therapy group. Number of growing and mature follicles, endometrial thickness, and occurrence of pregnancy were interestingly noticeable in the first group. Although the pregnancy rate was not significantly different in both groups, but considering both methods in clinical practice is recommended. Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine disorder in young women which has different clinical consequences. It is a common cause of infertility and is associated with chronic anovulation and hyperandrogenemia. It affects up to 6% of reproductive age women. Although clomiphene citrate is still the traditional therapy used for inducing ovulation, but aromatase inhibitors, such as letrozole or anastrozole, have been introduced for treatment of PCOS Women. This study was conducted to evaluate the outcome of long or extended letrozole therapy in comparison to short letrozole therapy for induction of ovulation in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). This prospective controlled study was conducted in a university hospital on 107 patients with PCOS. Patients were randomly allocated to treatment with either long letrozole therapy or short letrozole therapy. The diagnosis of PCOS was based on Rotterdom diagnostic criteria. Patients in the short letrozole group had 5 mg of letrozole daily starting day 1 of the menses for 5 days and patients in the long letrozole group had 2.5 mg of letrozole daily starting day 1 of the menses for 10 days. Number of growing and mature follicles, endometrial thickness, occurrence of pregnancy and miscarriage were evaluated. SPSS version 12 software (SPSS, Chicago, IL, USA) was used for data analysis. P value less than 0.05 was used for statistical consequences. Conclusions The long letrozole protocol (10 days) can produce mature follicles and pregnancies similar to the short letrozole thrapy (5 days). Further studies with larger sample sizes especially in different groups of pcos patients is recommended. References