gonadotrophin-releasing hormone agonist compared to pre-ovulatory injection of human chorionic gonadotrophins for ovulation induction in intrauterine insemination treatment cycles

background and purpose: the clinical outcome of intrauterine insemination (iui) treatment cycles employing a gonadotrophin-releasing hormone agonist [superfact)] or human chorionic gonadotrophin (hcg) for ovulation induction was compared. materials and methods: a group of 100 patients presenting with amenorrhoea, oligomenorrhoea or unexplained infertility were all treated with clomiphene 100 mg for 5 days and human menopausal gonadotrophins (hmg) from day 3 of the cycle, on an individualized schedule. they were then randomly divided into two groups to receive either a single s.c. injection of 0.5 mg superfact or a single i.m. injection of 10,000 iu hcg after follicular maturation. iui was performed approximately 34 and 36 h following the injection. results: patients received 51 treatment cycles with gnrha, producing 11 conceptions (22.9%) and two abortions (3.9%), mature ovarian follicles was 3.4±0.08. patients underwent 48 cycles treated with hcg, producing 18 conceptions (35.3%) and four abortions (8.3%) and mature ovarian follicles was 2.6±1.4. conclusion: these results show that an s.c. injection of a relatively low dose of gnrha can be as effective as hcg in induction ovulation but pregnancy rate is more by hcg in iui treatment cycles