The effect of adenomyosis on in vitro fertilisation and intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection treatment outcome

ObjectiveTo investigate the effect of uterine adenomyosis diagnosed by transvaginal ultrasound on IVF/ICSI treatment outcome.Study designA retrospective cohort study of all women aged ≤ 42 years with infertility who underwent IVF/ICSI treatment at IVFAustralia-East between January 2000 and June 2006. Patients were divided into two groups according to findings on a baseline pre-treatment transvaginal pelvic ultrasound: group A consisted of women with adenomyosis and group NA consisted of women without adenomyosis. The primary outcome measure was live birth rate per patient (cycle).ResultsA total of 201 patients (37 patients in Group A, 164 patients in group NA) undergoing a single stimulated cycle of IVF/ICSI were included in the data analysis. There was no difference in live birth rate per patient (cycle) between the two groups with both raw and logistic regression adjusted data (29.7% V 26.1%; p = 0.395; OR 1.45 with 95% CI 0.61–3.43). There were no other differences in ovarian response, embryological parameters or clinical outcomes between the two groups.ConclusionsThe presence of transvaginal ultrasound diagnosed adenomyosis did not adversely affect outcome in women undergoing IVF/ICSI treatment at our unit. However, the results are not conclusive and further large, well-designed prospective cohort studies are required in order to confirm our findings.