The possible influence of increased body mass index on the clinical efficacy of standard human chorionic gonadotropin dosage

Objectives: To evaluate whether the efficacy of standard (10,000 IU) hCG dosage is BMI dependent. Patients & Methods: During study period, body mass index (BMI) was recorded in 261 consecutive women enrolled in our ICSI program. Women in the 90th BMI percentile were compared with those in the 10th percentile. The number and percent of mature metaphase-II (M-II) oocytes were considered as the outcome measure. Results: Mean BMI of the 10th and 90th percentile groups were 18.2 ± 0.7 kg/m² (n = 26) and 32.8 ± 2.2 kg/m² (n = 27), respectively. There were no differences between the groups in mean patients age, number of gonadotropin ampoules used, mean number of oocytes retrieved or the number and percentage of mature M-II oocytes. Conclusions: Standard (10,000 IU) hCG dosage is adequate to induce final oocyte maturation in IVF patients regardless of their BMI. This may imply that this hCG dosage is much higher than the dosage that is actually required.