Addition of prednisolone and heparin in patients with failed IVF/ICSI cycles: a preliminary report of a clinical trial

Abstract

Through a non-randomized clinical trial, we examined the theoretical benefit of the coadministration of low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) and prednisolone on pregnancy outcomes in women with previously failed IVF/ICSI cycles. Fifteen women constituted the study group, and were compared with 19 women receiving LMWH alone and another 18 women with no drugs. Our finding that the combination of the two drugs produced positive differences in terms of embryo quality, pregnancy and live birth rates points to the necessity for adequately powered randomized trials.

Keywords::

• Low molecular weight heparin
• prednisolone
• glucocorticoids
• recurrent implantation failure
• pregnancy rates

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Eleni Alexiou, Tereza Vrantza and Eugenia Stergiou (members of the ARU) who participated in the collection of data. Dr Stergioualso participated in the initial drafting of the article and literature searching.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no declarations of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.