Decreased fertility in poor responder women is not related to oocyte morphological status

INTRODUCTION In women showing impaired fertility, a decreased response to ovarian stimulation is a major problem, limiting the number of oocytes to be used for assisted reproduction techniques (ART). Despite the several definitions of poor response, it is still a matter of debate whether young poor responder patients also show a decrease in oocyte quality. The objective in this study was to investigate whether poor ovarian response to the superstimulation protocol is accompanied by impaired oocyte quality. MATERIAL AND METHODS This study included 313 patients younger than 35 years old, undergoing intracytoplasmic sperm injection. Patients with four or fewer MII oocytes (poor-responder group, PR, n = 57) were age-matched with normoresponder patients (NR, n = 256). RESULTS A higher rate of oocyte retrieval and a trend towards an increase in MII oocyte rate were observed in the NR group when compared to the PR group (71.6 ±1.1% and 74.1 ±1.0% vs. 56.3 ±2.9% and 66.5 ±3.7%; p< 0.0001 and p = 0.056, respectively). A trend toward increased implantation rates was observed in the NR group when compared to the PR group (44 and 24.5 ±2.0% vs. 28.8 and 16.4 ±3.9%; p= 0.0305 and p= 0.0651, respectively). CONCLUSIONS Low response to ovarian stimulation is apparently not related to impaired oocyte quality. However, embryos produced from poor responder oocytes show impaired capacity to implant and to carry a pregnancy to term.