Factors Affecting Pregnancy and Live Birth Rates in Gonadotropin Treated Intrauterine Insemination Cycles of Unexplained Infertile Patients

Objective: We studied how basal hormone levels, the type of gonadotropin used for ovarian stimulation, initial gonadotropin dose, total gonadotropin dose, cycle duration, follicle size on the day of (human chorionic gonadotropin) hCG administration, and endometrial thickness affect pregnancy success in unexplained infertile patients undergoing IUI cycles. Materials and Methods: A total of 299 patients aged 20-40 years with unexplained infertility underwent ovulation induction (OI) and IUI treatment with gonadotropins were included in the study. Clinical pregnancy and live birth were primary outcomes. Results: Out of 299 patients, 11% (n=36) achieved clinical pregnancies, 9.9% (n=29) resulted in live births, and 2.3% (n=7) ended in abortions. Comparing age, basal FSH, LH, and E2 values between groups, it was found that E2 levels in the live birth group were significantly lower than those in the no-pregnancy group (39 pg/mL vs. 46.95 pg/mL, p=0.029). However, there were no significant differences in initial gonadotropin doses and total gonadotropin doses between the two groups (p=0.749, p=0.113). Patients in the no-conception group had significantly shorter cycle durations (mean=8.71 days) compared to patients in the live birth group (mean=9.55 days) (p=0.017). Endometrial thickness did not differ significantly between the groups (p=0.542). Follicle size in the no-conception group (mean=17.22 mm) was significantly smaller than in the live birth group (mean=19.11 mm) (p=0.176). There was no statistically significant difference between the rFSH or HMG groups for ovarian stimulation (p=0.487). Conclusion: IUI is an acceptable treatment method with a 9.69% live birth rate. In our study, basal E2 level of 39 pg/mL, cycle duration of 9.5 days, and 17 mm follicle size were found to be associated with live births.