Pretreatment with transdermal testosterone may improve the ovarian sensitivity to FSH and follicular response to gonadotrophin treatment in previous low-responder IVF patients. This approach leads to an increased follicular response compared with a high-dose gonadotrophin and minidose GnRH agonist protocol.

In 100 consecutive patients who were undergoing laparoscopy for infertility (group 1, n = 52), chronic pelvic pain (group 2, n = 18) or tubal sterilization (group 3, n = 30, asymptomatic fertile women), peritoneal biopsies were taken from areas of visually normal peritoneum of uterosacral ligaments. Twenty-six patients in group 1 (50%), eight patients in group 2 (44.4%) and 13 patients in group 3 (43.3%), were found to have laparoscopic evidence of endometriosis elsewhere in the pelvis. The majority of women (80.7% in group 1, 87.5% in group 2, and 100% in group 3) had stage I disease. The incidence of the distinctive appearances of the lesions was similar in the three groups of patients and 7% of all women or 15% (7/47) of those patients having endometriosis at laparoscopy had only subtle (non-¿typical') endometriotic peritoneal lesions. Uterosacral biopsies showed the presence of endometriotic tissue in three cases (5.7%), two cases (11%) and three cases (10%) in groups 1, 2, and 3 respectively. One of the two patients in group 2 and two of the three patients in group 3 had no evidence of endometriosis at laparoscopy; thus histological study revealed the presence of endometriosis in normal peritoneum in 11% (5/47) of patients having macroscopic endometriosis and in 6% (3/53) of patients without endometriosis at laparoscopy. Previous oral contraceptive users were significantly higher among women having macroscopic and/or microscopic endometriosis than among women without the condition. In conclusion, our prospective study shows a high prevalence (45-50%) of endometriosis (including microscopic forms) in both patients with chronic pelvic pain and asymptomatic women (fertile and infertile), thus supporting the modern concept that in many women endometriosis may be a paraphysiological condition while probably only in some patients small amounts of endometriosis are an ¿annoyance' with implications to their reproductive health and may produce symptoms (e.g. pelvic pain) and therefore should be defined as a ¿dis-ease'. Previous use of oral contraceptives may increase the risk of developing endometriosis.

AMH concentrations obtained early in the follicular phase during ovarian stimulation under pituitary suppression for assisted reproduction are better predictors of ovarian response than basal AMH measurements. However, AMH is not useful in the prediction of pregnancy. Definite clinical applicability of AMH determination as a marker of IVF outcome remains to be established.

Recent reports investigating the value of basal inhibin B determination as a predictor of ovarian reserve and assisted reproduction treatment have led to discordant results. This study was undertaken to further assess the relative power of day 3 inhibin B and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) (defined before treatment) and the woman's age both as single and combined predictors of ovarian response and pregnancy in an in-vitro fertilization (IVF)/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) programme. A total of 120 women undergoing their first cycle of IVF or ICSI was included. Forty consecutive cycles cancelled because of poor follicular response were initially selected. As a control group, the nearest completed IVF/ICSI cycles before and after each cancelled cycle (i.e. the closest cycles in temporal relationship to the index cycle) were used. Mean age and basal FSH concentrations were significantly higher in the cancelled than in the control group (P: < 0.01 and P: < 0.001 respectively), whereas basal inhibin B was significantly higher in the latter (P: < 0.05). The association of basal FSH (with an accuracy or predictive value of ovarian response of 79%) with cancellation rate was significant, independent of, and stronger than the effects of age and inhibin B (P: < 0.05). Any two or all three of these variables studied did not improve the predictive value of FSH alone. Woman's age was the only variable independently associated with pregnancy rate. It is concluded that the stronger predictors of success in patients undergoing their first IVF/ICSI treatment cycle are age and basal FSH rather than inhibin B. Basal FSH concentration was a better predictor of cancellation rate than age, but age was a stronger predictor of pregnancy rate.