Impaired ovarian stimulation during in vitro fertilization in women who are seropositive for hepatitis C virus and seronegative for human immunodeficiency virus

Objective: To analyze the impact of seropositivity with hepatitis C virus (HCV) on in vitro fertilization (IVF) outcomes. Design: Retrospective, case-controlled study. Setting: Fertility clinic of academic hospital. Patient(S): 42 IVF/intracytoplasmic sperm injection cycles in HCV seropositive women and 84 matched control cycles. Intervention(s): IVF/intracytoplasmic sperm injection treatment for infertility. Main Outcome Measure(s): Ovarian response to stimulation, laboratory findings, and implantation and pregnancy rates. Result(S): Absence of ovarian response was statistically significantly higher for HCV seropositive women compared with controls (10/42 vs 5/84 cycles, respectively). For cycles with oocyte retrieval, HCV seropositive women required more gonadotropin units compared with controls. The maximum estradiol levels and number of collected oocytes were similar, but HCV seropositive women had statistically significantly fewer embryos available compared with controls. Embryo morphologic features, number of transferred embryos, and rates of implantation and pregnancy were similar for HCV seropositive women and controls. Conclusion(S): When compared with matched uninfected controls, HCV-seropositive women display a decreased ovarian response.