Objective: The aim of this study was to establish an objective definition of "poor responders" for patients undergoing treatment with assisted reproduction.
Methods: A total of 782 infertile couples treated with assisted reproduction were studied by retrospective analysis of the data. Simple linear regression was performed between the number of oocytes retrieved and the clinical pregnancy rate. The sensitivity and specificity were then calculated and the receiver-operator characteristic (ROC) curves were drawn in order to determine a critical number of oocytes retrieved below which the clinical pregnancy rate was significantly diminished.
Results: An excellent correlation was found between the number of oocytes retrieved and the clinical pregnancy rate (r = 0.90). The clinical pregnancy rate started to become significantly lower when fewer than 5, 6, and 8 oocytes were retrieved from patients treated with ICSI, IVF, or TeSE/ICSI, respectively.
Conclusions: The definition of poor responders in assisted reproduction depends on the treatment modality. Poor responders are patients undergoing treatment with ICSI, IVF, or TeSE/ICSI from whom fewer than 5, 6, or 8 oocytes are retrieved, respectively.