Ovarian reserve testing: a user's guide.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review without systematic methodology or new human data
PubMed 28235465 · doi:10.1016/j.ajog.2017.02.027
What was done
This narrative review synthesized the clinical utility, performance characteristics, and indications for ovarian reserve testing modalities—specifically antral follicle count, anti-Müllerian hormone, and day-3 follicle-stimulating hormone—to guide clinical practice in reproductive endocrinology and general gynecology.
What was found
The abstract reports no numerical findings, sensitivity/specificity values, or effect sizes. It qualitatively reports that antral follicle count and anti-Müllerian hormone have good predictive value for response to ovarian stimulation and are superior to day-3 follicle-stimulating hormone. Anti-Müllerian hormone is identified as the preferred biomarker due to cycle-independent untimed sampling, age-specific reference values, and automated assay platforms.
Why it matters
Ovarian reserve markers help clinicians tailor assisted reproductive stimulation protocols to reduce hyperstimulation risks, guide counseling for gonadotoxic cancer therapy, and assist in diagnosing polycystic ovary syndrome.
Limits
The paper is a non-systematic narrative review providing no quantitative diagnostic accuracy metrics in the abstract. It does not report sample sizes, search criteria, or risk-of-bias assessments for the cited literature.
Cited by
- supports Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) blood testing measures ovarian egg count/reserve.