POST WAR EGG DONOR CYCLES OUTCOME: DOES PSYCHOLOGICAL ADJUSTMENT OF EGG DONORS AND STRESS FACTOR INFLUENCE EFFICIENCY ?

Problem Satatement:Armed conflict has a dualistic impact on reproductive health, which is reflected in minor quantitative parameters differences but with some statistically significant qualitative changes.

Methods:In this retrospective single center study 548 egg donors was included. Parameters observed: the number of oocytes harvested, number of MII oocytes, follicle-to-oocyte index (FOI), antral follicle count (AFC), maturation rate (MR), utilization rate (UR), fertilization rate and used blastocyst rate depending on the date of the start of the armed conflict in Ukraine on February 24, 2022

In this observational study same egg donors stimulated before and after war conflict. A group (n= 380) egg donation cycles are completed before war conflict and B group (n=168) egg donation cycles are completed after the war conflict.

Results:The mean age (SD) was 25.7 (2.7), 35.9(5.2) and 26,5 (2.8) years in groups A and B respectively. Groups A and B had a similar mean number of oocytes retrieved (31,65±14,12 and 31,68±13,61), which was obtained as a result of the mean number (SD) of COS programs 3,4 (2,7) and 4,6 (2,3) in groups A and B, respectively. Statistical difference was mentioned for values number of MII oocytes: 25,76 (11,92) and 25,46 (11,73) and for AFC: 37,28 (15,04) and 34,98 (13,37) in groups A and B, respectively. Recipients from Group A (Age average 36,45± 14,01); gave 91,27% fertilization rate, 62,18% used blastocysts rate and 49,75% clinical pregnancy rate. Group B(Age average 37,18±14,16); gave 90,18% fertilization rate, 64,55% used blastocysts rate and 44,67% pregnancy rate.

Unexpectedly, values for UR and FOI in group B were statistically higher: 96,9% (15,1) vs 93,1 (18,2) in group A (p=<0.001) and 91,45 (11,20) vs 85,25 (15,97), (p=<0.05) for both parameters, respectively, while opposite tendency was observed for MR, which mean value was statistically higher in A group than in B, accordingly 81% vs 80%, p=<0.01.

Conclusion:Unexpectedly, this study for the first time revealed statistically significant improvements in armed conflict related donors group of the values for the FOI and UR parameters, which usually could explain unexpected hypo-responsiveness but not in our study. The exact mechanism still needs to be defined in the future studies.