[Purified FSH in small doses. Is this not the best current treatment of polycystic ovaries resistant to clomid? 73 cycles].

Sixteen infertile women with the Polycystic ovary syndrome were treated using stimulation of ovulation with purified FSH after Clomid had failed. We compared the results of giving a short course (19 cycles) with giving a long course (54 cycles). With the long course there were fewer cases of hyperstimulation--2 out of 54 cycles (3.70%) as against 1 in 19 cycles with a short course (5.26%). There were fewer changes in the programme needed--6 out of 54 cycles (3.7%) as against 7 cycles out of 19 (31.57%). Ovulatory cycles occurred more frequently in 46 out of 54 cycles (85.18%) as against 12 out of 19 (63.15%). In the long courses 14 pregnancies out of 46 ovulatory cycles occurred (30.43%) as against 3 pregnancies out of 12 cycles (25%). The level of successful pregnancy was much higher in couples who had no other sterility factors--85.10% for the long course as against 63.15% for the short course. In summary purified FSH is an excellent treatment for ovarian dysfunction that is resistant to Clomid. It is necessary to have 3.41 ovulatory cycles to obtain a pregnancy. In this work there were no multiple pregnancies out of the 17 pregnancies and the 3 cases of hyperstimulation that were noted were moderate.