Cryopreservation as a strategy for prevention of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome in a public assisted reproduction service in São Paulo - Brazil

SUMMARY OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) and associated risk factors in patients undergoing fertilization cycles at risk of OHSS (≥15 antral follicles or ≥15 oocytes aspirated) and submitted to cryopreservation of all embryos in the Human Reproduction Service of the Pérola Byington Hospital (Referral Center for Women's Health) in São Paulo, SP, Brazil. METHODS: This cross-sectional, institutional, descriptive study of secondary data from patients' charts enrolled in the Assisted Reproduction Service of the Pérola Byington Hospital at risk of OHSS after controlled ovarian stimulation and submitted to cryopreservation of all embryos was conducted between January 2015 and September 2017. RESULTS: OHSS occurred in 47.5% of cycles, all with mild severity, and there were no moderate or severe cases of OHSS. CONCLUSION: The cryopreservation of all embryos is associated with a reduction in moderate and severe forms of OHSS. Risk factors for OHSS should be evaluated prior to initiation of treatment, with less intense stimulation protocols accordingly.

Oral dydrogesterone in frozen-thawed embryo transfer cycles

SUMMARY OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare the use of micronized vaginal progesterone and oral dydrogesterone in the endometrial preparation for frozen-thawed embryo transfer. METHODS: This was a randomized, controlled, open, two-armed clinical trial, with women undergoing frozen-thawed embryo transfer along with hormone replacement therapy for endometrial preparation, between September 2019 and February 2021. A total of 73 patients were randomly selected and orally administered 40 mg/day dydrogesterone (dydrogesterone group, n=36) or 800 mg/day micronized vaginal progesterone (micronized vaginal progesterone group, n=37), after endometrial preparation with transdermal estradiol. The main outcome was a viable ongoing pregnancy with 12 weeks of gestation as evaluated by ultrasound. RESULTS: The reproductive outcomes in frozen-thawed embryo transfer cycles were similar, with pregnancy rates in the dydrogesterone and micronized vaginal progesterone treatment groups being, respectively, 33.3 and 32.4% at 12 weeks pregnancy (confidence interval= -22.4-20.6, p=0.196). CONCLUSIONS: The use of oral dydrogesterone may be a more patient-friendly approach to endometrial preparation in frozen-thawed embryo transfer cycles, avoiding undesirable side effects and discomfort resulting from vaginal administration, while also providing similar reproductive results.

Criação de um banco de dados personalizado de baixo custo em um serviço público de reprodução humana / Created a customized database for human reproduction at a low cost for the public service

Todo serviço de reprodução humana necessita de um banco de dados para arquivar e manejar avaliações estatísticas. O serviço público de Reprodução Humana do Hospital Pérola Byington usava uma planilha Excel™ que se mostrou insuficiente para o adequado gerenciamento de informações, evidenciou a necessidade de um programa específico que facilitasse uma consulta rápida ao resumo dos ciclos de FIV, sem que houvesse qualquer probabilidade de erro no preenchimento e nas estatísticas posteriormente feitas. Considerando a inexistência de recursos para compra de um programa, tornava­se necessária a criação de uma plataforma a partir de um software de uso livre. Optamos por usar a plataforma fornecida pelo Centers for Disease Control and Prevention e assim originou­se o CRSMinfo, composto de formulários com subdivisões dos procedimentos, incluindo todas as informações relevantes para consulta e levantamento automatizado de dados. Seu uso mostrou­se extremamente eficiente, aprimorou os protocolos laboratoriais e possibilitou estudos e pesquisas.(AU)

Efficient software it's absolutely necessary for any human assisted reproduction (ART) lab. Perola Byington Public Hospital's ART center has used a spreadsheet in Excel with more than 200 columns for data storage of all in vitro fertilization cycles for years, making it very difficult to create complex statistics to analyze data and lead to quick statistic evaluation. Since we are working with a very tight budget, we selected an open source software created by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and after months of programming we created CRSMinfo, which contains a form with subdivision of procedures, including all the information for research and automatic sorting of the data. The use of CRSMinfo software at Perola Byington Hospital has been extremely efficient, improving the protocols for the realization of studies and researches.(AU)