Mini IVF (Minimal Stimulation IVF) is a procedure that differs from routine IVF in the stimulation of the ovaries and the dosage of the hormones (gonadotropins) administered for the production of oocytes.
During routine IVF the gonadotropin dosage reaches 3000 to 5000 units per cycle. In mini IVF up to 750 units of gonadotropin are administered together with clomiphene citrate. This equals around 1/5 to 1/7 of the dosage administered during routine IVF, reducing in that way the number of injections and the cost of the medication.
A recently published review [1] presents a series of clinical studies, which show that cycles with mild ovarian stimulation (mini IVF) with clomiphene citrate and gonadotropins result in similar pregnancy rates as cycles with gonadotropins and GnRH analogues.
In our Centre we have been applying this mild protocol for the stimulation of the ovaries for sperm insemination since 2003. In some women, however, more than 5 follicles were present during the stimulation and insemination had to be cancelled to avoid multiple pregnancies. Most of the cases were treated with IVF instead, which resulted in high pregnancy rates. This urged us to use the minimal stimulation protocol for women that were poor responders and women over 40 years, groups of women that respond well to this type of treatment.
- Gibreel A., Maheshwari A., Bhattacharya S. 2012. Clomiphene citrate in combination with gonadotropins for controlled ovarian stimulation in women undergoing in vitro fertilisation. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 11: CD008528.