A modified ultra-long downregulation protocol improves pregnancy outcomes in high body mass index patients undergoing In vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection treatment

Objective: Overweight and obesity are increasingly epidemic and negatively related to reproductive outcome. The aim of this study was to investigate the advantages of a modified ultra-long downregulation protocol on pregnancy outcomes of patients with high body mass index (BMI) undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF)/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), compared to the long protocol (LP). Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 3,920 infertile patients at the Reproductive and Genetic Hospital of Citic-Xiangya from January 2012 to December 2017 by propensity score matching (PSM). Patients were divided into two groups: modified ultra-LP (MULP) (n = 1,960) and LP (n = 1,960). Results: In the MULP group, live birth rate (52.65% vs. 46.79%,P Conclusion: The modified ultra-long downregulation protocol improved the pregnancy outcomes in patients with high BMI undergoing IVF/ICSI treatment, providing a potential option for physicians when deciding an optimized ovary stimulation protocol for high BMI patients.