Abstract
Purpose: Our purpose was to determine whether there is a correlation between human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) blood levels and oocyte maturation.
Methods: Three samples of blood were obtained at different times from hCG administration as follows: 12 hr, 36 hr, during oocyte recovery, and at 84 hr, when the patient comes for embryo transfer.
Results: A total of 5036 oocytes was retrieved from 404 patients prospectively recruited between April 1996 and March 1997. The percentage of metaphase-II oocytes at different blood levels ranged from 84 to 88%. The general trend does not show any significant increase in percentage of metaphase-II oocytes in association with an increasing serum hCG concentration.
Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that at 12, 36, and 84 hr after hCG administration, levels as low as 50, 45, and 9 IU/L of hCG, respectively, are equally potent as higher levels at initiating maximal oocyte maturity.
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Al-Hassan, S., Fishel, S., Fleming, S. et al. Low Plasma Levels of hCG After 10,000-IU hCG Injection Do Not Reduce the Number or Maturation of Oocytes Recovered in Patients Undergoing Assisted Reproduction. J Assist Reprod Genet 15, 583–586 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020325125881
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020325125881