Success rate of letrozole vs clomiphene citrate as pregnancy inducers in infertile Sudanese patients with polycystic ovary syndrome

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) -associated with infertility- is becoming very common among Sudanese patients. Despite the wide acceptance of clomiphene citrate as the first-line drug for ovulation induction, a significant proportion of women do not respond to the treatment. On the other hand, the AIs were increasingly been used as single high doses although the teratogenic effects and safety on fetal development were still debatable.

General objective
To compare letrozole vs clomiphene citrate success rate as pregnancy inducers in the treatment of infertile Sudanese patients with PCOS and to assess the side effects from the two drugs.

Specific objective
To assess letrozole vs clomiphene citrate activity in the treatment of infertility in Sudanese patients with PCOS by comparing the effects of the two drugs on the:
• Different doses used to induce conception
• Maturation of follicles to sizes ≥18 mm
• Change in the ovarian cyst sizes
• Change in the endometrial thickness
• Achieved positive pregnancy tests outcome after induction
• Assess the incidence of side effects from the two drugs

2. Methods
2.1: Study design
This research is designed as a retrospective, cross-sectional study to evaluate letrazole vs CC success rates as pregnancy inducers in infertile Sudanese patients with PCOS. One hundred patient files from 3 infertility centers at Khartoum City were enrolled covering the December 2015-December 2020 were enrolled with half the patients on letrazole and the other half on CC. The number of detected mature follicles ≥18mm and positive pregnancy test outcomes after induction were used for assessment. Side effects were assessed as reported on files. Significance was measured with a T-test using SPSS version 23 and P≤0.05 was considered significant. Association between variables was assessed with logistic regression.