The Association Between LH Serum Levels at the time of hCG Injection and Clinical Pregnancy during IVF

Some studies showed that recombinant follicle stimulating hormone (r-FSH) administration without LH supplementation has a good success rate on in vitro fertilization (IVF). However, LH role in IVF has been controversial. This study was conducted to evaluate the association between serum LH levels at the time of hCG injection and clinical pregnancy during IVF. This retrospective study included 136 patients underwent long protocol IVF from January 2005 to December 2009 in Yasmin Clinic, Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, Jakarta. The controlled ovarian hyper-stimulation protocol used in this study was gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist and r-FSH. Serum LH level was measured on the day of hCG administration and the outcome evaluated was the clinical pregnancy following IVF cycles. There were 32 IVF cycles resulted in pregnancy out of 136 cycles (23.5%). There was significant difference between serum LH levels on the day of hCG administration and clinical pregnancy outcome (p=0.036). LH serum level cut-off value of ≥1.050 IU/l was the best value to predict pregnancy outcome with 62.5% sensitivity, 59.4% specificity, 83.3% positive predictive value, and 32.76% negative predictive value. It was concluded that there was an association between serum LH levels at the time of hCG injection and clinical pregnancy during IVF.