GnRH agonist long protocol versus short protocol in women 40 years or more undergoing ICSI: a multicenter study

Objective: to compare results of GnRH agonist long protocol vs. short protocol in women forty years or older undergoing ICS cycles
Setting: multicenter comparative trial
Materials and methods: Participants & Interventions: a total of 531 women ranging between 40-47ys were included in this study. Two hundred eighty five women received long protocol while two hundred forty six women received short protocol. All women had FSH less than 20 before start of treatment. Standard ICSI program was done and follow up for all cases. Women with previous poor response were excluded from the study.
Results: In total, among 531 participants, clinical pregnancy was achieved in one hundred and one women (19%) and miscarriage rate was (32%) mainly in the first eight weeks. There was a wide variation in regarding both protocols (long protocol achieved pregnancy rate of 26.6 % while short protocol achieved only 10.2% pregnancy rate (P <0.001). No cases of severe OHSS were reported. Cost of drugs were significantly reduced with the short protocol (P =0.031)
Conclusion: this multicenter study shows that long protocol of GnRH agonist was better than short protocol in women with age of forty or above.