4 replies to this topic

[returnable]

I'm doing a bit of reading to understand more about AMH: the ranges expected at a given age, how these relate to fertility and units. I thought it would be nice to provide a summary with a cautionary note that these are my notes, and I am not in the medical profession. I put the information together for myself as I assess my AMH value and what it means for future IVF.

 

(1) What is AMH?

• AMH - antimullirean hormone
• It is secreted by small antral follicles in the ovary
• Studies have indicated that there is a correlation between AMH levels, the woman's age, and the number of eggs remaining in a woman's ovaries

(2) What does the AMH value mean?

• Relatively good indicator of response to ovarian stimulation during IVF
• There is no AMH cut-off value that ensures either success or failure for IVF for women of child bearing age
• A study in 2010 found that in younger women with higher AMH, there was a moderately good correlation with predicting a live birth after IVF. However, a low AMH value was not necessarily associated with a poor outcome
• An AMH result in isolation should not restrict access nor raise expectations regarding the outcome of IVF
• AMH is an indicator of how much longer your reproductive years will last

(3) What are the age-related ranges for AMH?

 

      Under 33 years old  2.1 -6.8 ng/ml        15.0  – 48 pmol/L

      33-37 years old      1.7 – 3.5 ng/ml       12.14 – 32.13 pmol/L

      38-40 years old      1.1 – 3.0 ng/ml       7.8 – 21.42 pmol/L

      41+ years old          0.5 – 2.5 ng/ml       3.57 – 17.85 pmol/L

 

(4) What about those units?

 

I have noticed (and I have done it myself), that people report their AMH values without units. Different clinics use one of two reporting units ng/ml or pmol/L (can also show up as pM/L in results). Here is how you convert between the two:

• If your AMH value is in ng/ml, and you want to convert to pmol/L, multiply by 7.14
• If your AMH values in in pmol/L, and you want to convert to ng/ml, divide by 7.14

And I leave this to the end for those interested. Here is a bit more information on the units:

• ng/ml = nanograms per millilitre. 1 gram = 1,000,000,000 nanograms
• pmol/L = picomoles per litre. 1 mole = 1,000,000,000,000 picomoles
• A mole is a measurement of the mass of one molecule of a chemical. It is useful with large molecules in biology
• And if your eyes are not glazed over yet (that means you're in my camp and interested in science), the molecular mass of AMH is 140,000 g/mol (compare that to hydrogen at 1 g/mol)

[Nadira]

Hi returnable,

 

Thank you for this post. There is so much to learn. It's nice to break down some aspects bit by bit.

[optimistic88]

Thank you for this post. I'm just starting my IVF journey and have lots to still understand

[returnable]

Thanks optimistic88. I know I was completely overwhelmed by everything when I started this journey, but this site, and educating myself has taken a lot of the stress of the unknown away for me. It is a tough journey. There is not a guaranteed path or outcome. It sucks. That's life.

 

I hope you have a good journey and find lots of support on this site. If you have a certain diagnosis, join in the specific "Infertility by Cause" forum. If you are doing IUI/IVF/FET, join the monthly groups to find support there.

[Bre]

Thanks returnable! Explains a lot!