Possibility of live birth in patients with low serum β-hCG 14 days after blastocyst transfer

Journal of Ovarian Research

Yixuan Wu¹  Haiying Liu¹ 

[1] Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Center for Reproductive Medicine/Department of Fetal Medicine and Prenatal Diagnosis/BioResource Research Center, Key Laboratory for Major Obstetric Diseases of Guangdong Province, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China;Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine of Guangdong Province, No. 63, Duobao Road, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China;Key Laboratory for Major Obstetric Diseases of Guangdong Province, No. 63, Duobao Road, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China;Key Laboratory of Reproduction and Genetics of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, No. 63, Duobao Road, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China;

关键词: Assisted reproductive technology;    Human chorionic gonadotropin;    Pregnancy;    Live birth;    Blastocyst;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s13048-020-00732-6

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundAlthough prior work has attempted to predict pregnancy outcomes by assaying serum β-hCG levels after blastocyst transfer, no study has focused on pregnancy outcomes in those with initially low serum β-hCG levels. This study sought to investigate pregnancy outcomes of patients with low serum β-hCG levels 14 days after blastocyst transfer.MethodsA retrospective study was conducted at the Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University to study patients whose serum β-hCG levels were at 5–299 mIU/ml 14 days after frozen blastocyst transfer. Rates of live birth, early miscarriage, biochemical pregnancy loss and ectopic pregnancy were analyzed according to the female patients’ age by Chi-squared analysis. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted to explore the threshold of predicting clinical pregnancy and live births.Results312 patients had serum β-hCG levels < 300 mIU/ml at 14 days after frozen blastocyst transfer, among which, 18.6% were live births, 47.4% were early miscarriages, 22.8% were biochemical pregnancies and 9.6% were ectopic pregnancies. ROC curve analysis showed that a predicted value of β-hCG for clinical pregnancy was 58.8 mIU/ml with an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.752, a sensitivity of 95.0% and specificity of 53.5%. The threshold for live births was 108.6 mIU/ml with an AUC of 0.649, a sensitivity of 93.1% and a specificity of 37.0%. For the β-hCG fold increase over 48 h, the cut-off for clinical pregnancy was 1.4 with an AUC of 0.899, a sensitivity of 90.3% and a specificity of 77.8%. The threshold for live birth was 1.9 with an AUC of 0.808, a sensitivity of 88.5% and specificity of 64.5%.ConclusionsInitially low serum β-hCG levels 14 days after frozen blastocyst transfer indicated minimal chances of live birth. For patients having an initial β-hCG > 58.8 mIU/ml, luteal phase support should continue. Another serum β-hCG test and ultrasound should be performed one week later. When an initial serum β-hCG is < 58.8 mIU/ml, luteal phase support should be discontinued and serum β-hCG measured with ultrasound one week later.

【 授权许可】

CC BY