Aspirin and heparin as adjuvants during IVF do not improve live birth rates in unexplained implantation failure

This study tested the hypothesis that using aspirin and/or heparin as adjuvants in IVF improves the treatment outcome. This retrospective cohort-control study recruited 234 consecutive subjects aged ⩽44 years who had previously had one or more unsuccessful IVF cycle. All underwent IVF using conventional protocols. The study group received aspirin and/or heparin post embryo transfer until the day of pregnancy test or until 12 weeks of pregnancy. The control group did not receive adjuvant treatment. The outcome measures were live birth, clinical pregnancy and miscarriage rates. The outcomes were compared by chi-squared test and relative-risk analysis. Analysis was performed in 206 subjects. There was no statistically significant difference in the live birth rate (35.0%, 36/103 versus 47.6%, 49/103), clinical pregnancy rate (40.8%, 42/103 versus 53.4%, 55/103) and miscarriage rate (14.3%, 6/42 versus 10.9%, 6/55) between the study group and the control group. The data in this study show that low-dose aspirin and/or heparin as adjuvant therapies during IVF do not improve live birth rates in an unselected group of subfertile women who have previously had one or more unexplained implantation failure following IVF.This retrospective study examined whether using aspirin and/or heparin during IVF treatment improves the treatment outcomes. A total of 234 women aged ⩽44 years who had previously undergone at least one unsuccessful IVF cycle were recruited into the study. All women underwent IVF treatment. The study group received aspirin and/or heparin from the day of embryo transfer until the day of the pregnancy test or until 12 weeks of pregnancy, if pregnant. The control group did not receive aspirin and/or heparin. There were no differences in the live birth rates (35%, 36/103 versus 48%, 49/103), clinical pregnancy rates (41%, 42/103 versus 53%, 55/103) and miscarriage rates (14.3%, 6/42 versus 10.9%, 6/55) between the study group and the control group. The data in this study show that low-dose aspirin and/or heparin treatment during IVF does not improve the live birth rate or reduce the miscarriage rate in women who have had previous unsuccessful IVF treatment and whose immunological status is not known.