The Effect of Maternal Body Mass Index on In Vitro Fertilization-Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection Treatment: A Prospective Comparative Study

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate whether or not maternal body mass index (BMI) has an effect on pregnancy rates following in vitro fertilization-intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF-ICSI) treatment.Methods: A total of 869 patients who had undergone IVF-ICSI treatment between 2012 and 2017 were included in this study. The participants were stratified according to maternal BMI as Group 1 (BMI<25 kg/m2; n=394), Group 2 (25 kg/m225 kg/m2; n=172). Basal parameters and IVF-ICSI outcomes were compared between the groups.Results: While there were no differences between the groups in terms of age, smoking status, etiology of infertility, thyroid-stimulating hormone, prolactin levels, antral follicle count, and stimulation protocol (p>0.05), there was significant statistical difference (p<0.05) in terms of BMI, duration of infertility, baseline follicle-stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, estradiol (E2), duration of stimulation, total gonadotropin dose required, peak E2 levels, progesterone levels, endometrial thickness on hCG administration, and cycle cancellation rate. In addition, the numbers of MII and 2PN oocytes retrieved and the rates of clinical pregnancy, live births, and miscarriages were also different between the groups (p<0.05).Conclusion: Our data suggest that there is an inverse impact of increased BMI on laboratory and reproductive outcome parameters of IVF-ICSI treatment. Taking cost-effectiveness into consideration, weight loss should be suggested before ovulation is induced.