Circulating basal anti-Müllerian hormone levels as predictor of ovarian response in women undergoing ovarian stimulation for in vitro fertilization

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the clinical value of basal anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) measurements compared with other available determinants, apart from chronologic age, in the prediction of ovarian response to gonadotrophin stimulation.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: Tertiary referral center for reproductive medicine and an IVF unit.

Patient(s): Women undergoing their first cycle of controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (COH) for in vitro fertilization (IVF).

Materials and methods: Basal levels of FSH and AMH as well as antral follicle count (AFC) were measured in 165 subjects. All patients were followed prospectively and their cycle outcomes recorded.

Main outcome measure(s): Predictive value of FSH, AMH, and AFC for extremes of ovarian response to stimulation.

Result(s): Out of the 165 women, 134 were defined as normal responders, 15 as poor responders, and 16 as high responders. Subjects in the poor response group were significantly older then those in the other two groups. Anti-Müllerian hormone levels and AFC were markedly raised in the high responders and decreased in the poor responders. Compared with FSH and AFC, AMH performed better in the prediction of excessive response to ovarian stimulation-AMH area under receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC(AUC)) 0.81, FSH ROC(AUC) 0.66, AFC ROC(AUC) 0.69. For poor response, AMH (ROC(AUC) 0.88) was a significantly better predictor than FSH (ROC(AUC) 0.63) but not AFC (ROC(AUC) 0.81). AMH prediction of ovarian response was independent of age and PCOS. Anti-Müllerian hormone cutoffs of >3.75 ng/mL and <1.0 ng/mL would have modest sensitivity and specificity in predicting the extremes of response.

Conclusion(s): Circulating AMH has the ability to predict excessive and poor response to stimulation with exogenous gonadotrophins. Overall, this biomarker is superior to basal FSH and AFC, and has the potential to be incorporated in to work-up protocols to predict patient's ovarian response to treatment and to individualize strategies aiming at reducing the cancellation rate and the iatrogenic complications of COH.