PROVIDENCE, R.I., June 12 (UPI) -- For couples getting in vitro fertilization, a blood test of antimullerian hormone levels can help predict the number of eggs harvested, U.S. researchers say.
Lead author Andrew Blazar of Women & Infants Hospital and Geralyn Lambert-Messerlian of the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and Women & Infants Hospital say the finding could be useful for adjusting vitro fertilization preparations.
"Clinicians can measure antimullerian hormone before or during ovarian stimulation to counsel couples about their likelihood of success," Lambert-Messerlian says in a statement.
Antimullerian hormone levels in the blood are an indicator of how many follicles a woman has at the time of the hormone measurement.
Blazar and Lambert-Messerlian's team measured antimullerian hormone levels in 190 in vitro fertilization patients ages 22-44, both at the beginning and end of their follicle stimulation hormone treatment. The researchers counted the eggs that were eventually harvested and then performed blood tests and later an ultrasound to confirm pregnancy.
The study, scheduled to be published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, found women with low antimullerian hormone levels in the first test -- less than 1 nanogram per milliliter -- on average yielded only about six eggs, while women who had more than three times as much antimullerian hormone provided about 20 eggs on average.
