The correlation between serum Ca-125 level and clinical pregnancy in in vitro fertilization (IVF): A meta-analysis

Abstract

Background Several studies had investigated the role of serum Ca-125 in clinical pregnancy of patients undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF); however, their conclusions had been inconsistent. This study aimed to evaluate the correlation between serum Ca-125 level and clinical pregnancy in IVF. MethodsWe systematically review the studies in the databases of Mediline OvidSP, EMBASE OvidSP and Cochrane (CENTRAL Central Register of Controlled Trials). Studies on the correlation between serum Ca-125 level and clinical pregnancy in patients underging IVF with or without Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) were considered. The pooled standardized mean difference (SMD) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) was used in the analysis.Results Seven studies involving 558 patients were included. The meta-analysis showed that there was no significant difference in the serum Ca-125 level before embryo transfer (ET) between clinical pregnant group and nonpregnant group (SMD 0.72; 95% CI [0.01, 1.43], P = 0.05, I 2 = 88%), and the same conclusion was also reached in patients without endometriosis (SMD 0.31; 95% CI [-0.53, 1.16], P = 0.47, I 2 = 89%); However, after embryo transfer, the result showed that the Ca-125 level has a small but significantly increase in the clinical pregnant group than in the nonpregnant group (SMD 0.39; 95% CI [0.09, 0.69], P = 0.01, I 2 = 0%).Conclusions Berore ET, there was no significant correlation between serum Ca-125 level and clinical pregnancy in IVF; After ET, the Ca-125 level has a small but significantly increase in the clinical pregnant group than in the nonpregnant group, and it might reflect a successful interaction between the embryo and the endometrium in that time period.