RESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: Oocyte donation cycle has been a useful model for the assessment of potential factors affecting human pregnancy, such as uterine receptivity or oocyte quality. The purpose of this study was to investigate variable clinical factors affecting the outcomes of oocyte donation cycles. METHODS: This study reviewed 109 cycles of 85 women who underwent oocyte donation in SNUH infertility clinic from March 1992 to February 2004. Variable clinical characteristics were compared between pregnant and non-pregnant group. Data was evaluated by student's t-test, oneway ANOVA, and Chi-square test. RESULTS: Clinical pregnancy rate was 38.5% per cycle and 48.2% per recipient. When pregnant and non-pregnant groups were compared, there was a significant difference in donor age between both groups. (30.2+/-3.6 vs. 32.1+/-4.3, P=0.017). On the other hand, there were no significant differences in mean age, BMI, gravidity of recipient, and peak estradiol level of donor. The number of oocytes retrieved, embryos transferred, fertilization rate, and cumulative embryo score were not different between pregnant and non-pregnant group. Among the various donor age groups, clinical pregnancy rate was significantly higher in or =35 years (50.0% vs 18.2%, P=0.015). There were no significant differences for both endometrial thickness and pattern in the pregnancy rate during the IVF-ET cycles by ovum donation. CONCLUSION: The most reliable predictive factor for pregnancy in oocyte donation cycles is the age of oocyte donor. The mid-cycle endometrial thickness and trilaminar patterns are insignificant predictors. The age of recipient and cumulative embryo score are also insignificant factors.