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Infertile women aged over 40 undergoing intrauterine insemination may benefit from the combination of the drug Femara (letrozole) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH).
It might be “a good initial option”, according to research at the Toronto Centre for Advanced Reproductive Technologies, published in the journal Fertility and Sterility.
It reports that pregnancy rates for the co-treatment were similar to FSH-only rates – 17 of 90 women (18.9%) in the Femara/FSH trial and 13 of 69 (18.8%) for FSH only.
But co-treatment required a lower dose of FSH to achieve egg development, while cutting the risk of “ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome”, a problem associated with using drugs to stimulate egg production in the ovaries.
In infertile women, FSH is often used to stimulate the ovaries to produce several eggs, followed by intrauterine insemination (injection of sperm into the uterus).
Dr Mohamed Bedaiwy, who led the study, says that adding Femara to FSH “could be a good initial option offered to older female women in combination with intrauterine insemination”.
Copyright Press Association 2009
