Reproductive biomedicine online
September 16, 2026 · via Europe PMC
Harvesting the outlier: developmental potential of oocytes from early dominant follicles in women with a low ovarian reserve.
Lawrenz B, Didar H, Ata B, +5 more, Fatemi H.
AI summary — for doctors, generated from the abstract only
In women with low ovarian reserve, short-stimulation cycles can yield euploid embryos but with lower oocyte yield and a lower chance of at least one euploid embryo.
What was studied
Retrospective cohort of women with low ovarian reserve comparing short-stimulation cycles (early dominant follicles) with normal-stimulation cycles after propensity score matching, 336 cycles (224 normal, 112 short).
Key findings
- Cumulus-oocyte complexes averaged 1.17 versus 2.42 in short versus normal stimulation.
- Short stimulation was associated with lower downstream embryo development.
- Short-stimulation cycles still produced euploid embryos, but the adjusted likelihood of at least one was significantly lower.
Clinical relevance
Fertility specialists treating poor responders may weigh the trade-off between short, flexible cycles and lower embryo yield.
Who should care
Limitations
It is retrospective, and parts of the abstract (design details and some statistics) are missing, so full precision cannot be judged.
Short stimulation may remain an option in low reserve, but with reduced odds of a euploid embryo per cycle.
This is an AI-generated summary of the published abstract, not a clinical recommendation. It may not reflect the full text or subsequent updates — verify against the original source before acting on it.
Abstract
Research question
Are oocytes from very early follicular phase dominant follicles retrieved following a short period of stimulation as competent as oocytes retrieved after a normal period of stimulation from a synchronized follicle cohort in women with a low ovarian reserve?
Design
This retrospective cohort study included women with a low ovarian reserve (anti-Müllerian hormone <1.1 ng/ml; antral follicle count ≤7). Women in the short-stimulation group (SSG) had at least one dominant follicle (≥11 mm) on cycle day 2/3 and a stimulation duration of ≤4 days. Women without a dominant follicle on day 2/3 and ≥8 days of stimulation comprised the normal-stimulation group (NSG).
Results
After propensity score matching, 336 cycles were included (224 NSG and 112 SSG). Short-stimulation cycles were associated with lower mean ± SD oocyte yield and downstream embryo development (SSG versus NSG): cumulus-oocyte complex 1.17 ± 0.86 versus 2.42 ± 1.89 (P < 0.001); mature (metaphase II) oocytes 0.93 ± 0.74 versus 1.88 ± 1.67 (P < 0.001); and blastocysts/biopsied blastocysts 0.43 ± 0.60 versus 0.80 ± 1.07 (P = 0.0048)/0.36 ± 0.55 versus 0.56 ± 0.76 (P = 0.0282), respectively. The percentage of cycles with at least one blastocyst was 38.4% in the SSG versus 50.0% in the NSG, and the percentage of cycles with at least one biopsied blastocyst was 33.0% in the SSG versus 43.3% in the NSG; neither of these differences were significant. The mean ± SD euploid embryo count per cycle was 0.09 ± 0.32 in the SSG versus 0.15 ± 0.43 in the NSG (P = 0.1788). The proportion of cycles yielding at least one euploid embryo was 8.0% in the SSG and 12.1% in the NSG; the difference was not significant. In the adjusted analysis, short-stimulation cycles were associated with a lower likelihood of obtaining at least one euploid embryo (adjusted relative risk 0.49, 95% CI 0.25-0.96; P = 0.039).
Conclusions
In women with a low ovarian reserve, short-stimulation cycles can yield euploid embryos. However, in the adjusted analysis, the likelihood of obtaining at least one euploid embryo is reduced significantly compared with normal-stimulation cycles.
DOI
10.1016/j.rbmo.2026.105980
PMID
42854415
Research metadata (titles, abstracts, authors, publication dates) is sourced from Europe PMC, which aggregates content from PubMed/MEDLINE, PubMed Central, and other providers under the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM/NCBI). NLM does not claim copyright on abstracts; the original journal publishers or authors may hold rights to the full articles. AI-generated summaries are derived only from the abstract, never the full text, and are always labeled as AI-generated.
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