Antral follicle counts are strongly associated with live-birth rates after assisted reproduction, with superior treatment outcome in women with polycystic ovaries

Objective: To evaluate the association of antral follicle count (AFC) with in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF-ICSI) outcome in a large unselected cohort of patients covering the entire range of AFC.

Design: Prospective observational study.

Setting: University-affiliated private infertility center.

Patient(s): 2,092 women undergoing 4,308 IVF-ICSI cycles.

Intervention(s): AFC analyzed for associations with treatment outcome and statistically adjusted for repeated treatments and age.

Main outcome measure(s): Pregnancy rate, live-birth rate, and stimulation outcome parameters.

Result(s): The AFC was log-normally distributed. Pregnancy rates and live-birth rates were positively associated with AFC in a log-linear way, leveling out above AFC ∼30. Treatment outcome was superior among women with polycystic ovaries, independent from ovulatory status. The findings were significant also after adjustment for age and number of oocytes retrieved.

Conclusion(s): Pregnancy and live-birth rates are log-linearly related to AFC. Polycystic ovaries, most often excluded from studies on ovarian reserve, fit as one extreme in the spectrum of AFC; a low count constitutes the other extreme, with the lowest ovarian reserve and poor treatment outcome. The findings remained statistically significant also after adjustment for the number of oocytes retrieved, suggesting this measure of ovarian reserve comprises information on oocyte quality and not only quantity.