Anti-Müllerian hormone: ovarian reserve testing and its potential clinical implications.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review summarizing published literature without systematic review methodology or meta-analysis.
PubMed 24821925 · doi:10.1093/humupd/dmu020
What was done
The authors conducted a summarizing literature review synthesizing published clinical evidence regarding anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) as a measure of ovarian reserve and its clinical applications in reproductive medicine.
What was found
The abstract reports that AMH levels decrease slowly with age until becoming undetectable ~5 years before menopause. AMH accurately reflects the size of the antral follicle pool and primordial follicle stock, allowing prediction of reproductive lifespan and individualization of IVF dosing. No other specific quantitative metrics or effect sizes are reported in the abstract.
Why it matters
This review synthesizes the clinical rationale for using AMH in fertility counseling, ovarian stimulation protocols, and the assessment of ovarian reserve following gonadotoxic treatment or surgery.
Limits
The paper is a narrative review without reported systematic search criteria or meta-analytic pooling. Key clinical limitations noted include assay performance variability across sample storage and handling conditions, absence of an international reference standard, and a lack of prospective, well-powered studies evaluating live birth rates and cost-effectiveness.
Cited by
- supports Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) blood testing measures ovarian egg count/reserve.