Endometrial infusion of human chorionic gonadotropin at the time of blastocyst embryo transfer does not impact clinical outcomes: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether endometrial hCG infusion at the time of human blastocyst transfer impacts implantation rates. DESIGN: Randomized double-blinded placebo-controlled trial. SETTING: Academic. PATIENT(S): Infertile couples with the female partner less than 43 years old (n = 300) undergoing fresh or frozen ET of one or two blastocysts. INTERVENTION(S): Patients undergoing ET were randomized into either a treatment or a control group. The treatment group received an infusion of 500 IU of hCG diluted in ET media. The control group received a sham infusion of ET media. Infusions were done using a separate catheter less than 3 minutes before actual ET. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Sustained implantation rate: ongoing viable gestation (primary outcome) and ongoing pregnancy rate (secondary outcome). RESULT(S): A total of 473 blastocysts were transferred into 300 patients. There were no differences between the two groups in sustained implantation rate (48.1% in the hCG group, 44.2% in the control group) or ongoing pregnancy rate (58.8% in the hCG group, 52.0% in the control group). CONCLUSION(S): Endometrial infusion of hCG at the time of blastocyst ET does not improve sustained implantation rates. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT01643993.