Date of Award

2025

Document Type

Capstone

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Committee Chair

Trey Boyd

Abstract

Introduction: Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine disorder affecting women of reproductive age, often leading to infertility. First line treatment for ovulation induction is currently clomiphene citrate, a selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM), but some patients with PCOS have become resistant. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate if letrozole is a safe and effective alternative to clomiphene citrate for ovulation induction in women with PCOS.

Methods: PubMed was searched with a specific search strategy using key terms “letrozole,” “clomiphene citrate,” and “PCOS”. Operators and filters narrowed the results to 3 relevant and quality articles for review.

Results: One study demonstrated that letrozole offered fewer days in-between menstruation and ovulation. Two other studies found that letrozole offered clinically significant higher rates of pregnancy (P < .05). One study followed up on live birth rates and found letrozole significantly had higher rates than its counterpart clomiphene citrate.

Discussion: In 3 studies, there was an overall agreement that letrozole is just as effective and safe in the treatment of ovulation induction in women with PCOS. Letrozole resulted in higher pregnancy and live birth rates when compared to the use of clomiphene citrate. Letrozole also resulted in shorter time to ovulation and comparable safety to clomiphene citrate, making it an effective alternative for treatment for anovulation in women with PCOS. However, further studies with larger sample sizes are necessary to confirm these findings.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License

Download

Share

COinS