What Is The Link Between AMH Testing And IVF Treatment?
Tuesday, June 26, 2018
Women are born with their lifetime supply of eggs, and these gradually decrease in both quality and quantity with age.
Anti-Müllerian Hormone (AMH) testing is a simple way to assess a woman’s ovarian reserve and to diagnose issues such as early menopause or diminished ovarian reserve. An AMH test may be requested for women contemplating their fertility options and wanting to investigate their ovarian reserve. Women planning IVF or fertility treatment will usually have an AMH assessment. AMH does not change during your menstrual cycle, so the blood sample can be taken at any time of the month – even while you are using oral contraception. If you are taking other fertility drugs, be sure to tell your doctor, since you may need to stop taking them before undergoing fertility testing. Knowing that a woman’s AMH level is dropping can help a doctor determine whether future tests are necessary, assess the value of an in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycle, and determine whether follicle-stimulating drugs or egg preservation may be appropriate.
Women with higher AMH values will tend to have a better response to ovarian stimulation for IVF and have more eggs retrieved. In general, having more eggs with IVF gives a higher success rate.
AMH levels probably do not reflect egg quality, but having more eggs at egg retrieval gives us more to work with – so we are more likely to have at least one high-quality embryo available for transfer back to woman’s uterus. A low AMH should not necessarily be considered as a stand-alone concern and is not associated with a reduced monthly chance of getting pregnant. A reasonably high, rather than a reasonably low, AMH score is generally best. More follicles usually lead to more collected eggs after IVF stimulation. If there are more eggs to fertilize, there may be a better selection of embryos to transfer. AMH Blood Level: Normal levels (1.5 to 4.0 ng/ml). Low–Normal levels (1.0 to 1.5 ng/ml). Low levels: (0.5 to 1.0 ng/ml). Very low levels (below .5 ng/ml).
