A prospective, randomised, controlled clinical study on the assessment of tolerability and of clinical efficacy of Merional (hMG-IBSA) administered subcutaneously versus Merional administered intramuscularly in women undergoing multifollicular ovarian stimulation in an ART programme (IVF)

Table 2 Outcome of ovarian stimulation and IVF in patients who received Merional by s.c.vs. i.m. injections.

	Merional s.c.	Merional i.m.	P value
N. of patients starting MOS	83	80
Duration of MOS (days)*	13.8 ± 1.7	14.6 ± 2.1	0.02
hMG total dose (IU)*	2168.6 ± 729.55	2595.1 ± 951.2	0.002
AUC_0-t of E₂ (log-transformed pmol/Ldays)	8.7 ± 0.6	8.8 ± 0.5	NS
C_MAX of E₂ (pmol/L) *	2215.5 ± 1288.4	2416.2 ± 1258.5	NS
Completed COS cycles (OPUs)	77	73
N. of oocytes retrieved/OPU*	8.0 ± 3.8	8.6 ± 3.7	NS
N. of fertilized oocytes/OPU*	3.6 ± 2.7	4.0 ± 3.0	NS
N. of embryo transfers (ETs)	77	73
hCG positive tests	32	25
Pregnancy rate/started cycle (%) ^a	38.5	31.2	NS
Pregnancy rate/ET (%)^a	41.5	34.2	NS
Clinical pregnancies	21	19
Clinical pregnancy rate/started cycle (%) ^b	25.3	23.7	NS
Clinical pregnancy rate/ET (%)^b	27.3	26.0	NS

* Values expressed as mean ± SD.
^a Women who had positive-urine pregnancy test performed 14 days after embryo transfer.
^b Women who had US evidence of foetal heartbeat

ISSN: 1477-7827