Early Pregnancy Support in an in vitro Fertilization Program: Does Human Chorionic Gonadotropin Reduce the Miscarriage Rate?

In order to determine the effect of early pregnancy support with intermittent injections of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), 60 patients with positive serum pregnancy tests following in vitro fertilization (IVF) or gamete intra‐fallopian transfer (GIFT) were randomly allocated into 2 groups. Those in one group were given 5,000 IU of hCG twice weekly until they reached 12 weeks gestation, or miscarried. Those in the other group acted as controls. There was no difference in the serum progesterone level or in pregnancy outcome noted between the 2 groups. The miscarriage rate in each group was 26.6%. It is concluded that exogenous hCG has no significant role to play once biochemical pregnancy has been achieved in patients with normal hormone profiles on an IVF program.