Intrauterine administration of recombinant human chorionic gonadotropin before embryo transfer on outcome of in vitro fertilization/ intracytoplasmic sperm injection: A randomized clinical trial

Background: The direct effect of hCG on the human endometrium was studied several times.
Objective: The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effectiveness of intrauterine injection of recombinant human chorionic gonadotropin (rhCG) before embryo transfer (ET).
Materials and Methods: In this randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial, a total number of 182 infertile patients undergoing their first in vitro fertilization/ intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF-ICSI) cycles were randomly assigned to receive 250μg intrauterine rhCG (n=84) or placebo (n=98) before ET. The implantation and pregnancy rates were compared between groups.
Results: Patients who received intrauterine rhCG before ET had significantly higher implantation (36.9% vs. 22.4%; p=0.035), clinical pregnancy rates (34.5% vs. 20.4%; p=0.044) and ongoing pregnancy rate (32.1% vs. 18.4%; p=0.032) when compared to those who received placebo. The abortion (2.4% vs. 2.0%; p=0.929) and ectopic pregnancy rates (1.2% vs. 1.0%; p=0.976) were comparable between groups of rhCG and placebo, respectively.
Conclusion: Intrauterine injection of 250μg of rhCG before ET significantly improves the implantation and pregnancy rates in IVF/ICSI cycles.

Keywords
Recombinant human chorionic gonadotropin (rhCG); Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI); In vitro fertilization (IVF); Implantation rate; Pregnancy rate