Assessment of endometrial receptivity by transvaginal color Doppler and three‐dimensional power Doppler ultrasonography in patients undergoing in vitro fertilization procedures.

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the usefulness of transvaginal color Doppler and three-dimensional power Doppler ultrasonography for the assessment of endometrial receptivity. A total of 89 patients undergoing in vitro fertilization procedures were evaluated for endometrial thickness and volume, endometrial morphology, and subendometrial perfusion on the day of embryo transfer. Neither the volume nor the thickness of the endometrium on the day of embryo transfer had a predictive value for conception during in vitro fertilization cycles (P > .05). Patients who became pregnant were characterized by a significantly lower resistance index, obtained from subendometrial vessels by transvaginal color Doppler ultrasonography (resistance index = 0.53 +/- 0.04 versus 0.64 +/- 0.04, pregnant versus not pregnant, respectively; P < .05), and a significantly higher flow index (13.2 +/- 2.2 versus 11.9 +/- 2.4; P < .05), as measured by a three-dimensional power Doppler histogram. No difference was found in the predictive value of scoring systems analyzing endometrial thickness and volume, endometrial morphology, and subendometrial perfusion by color Doppler and three-dimensional power Doppler ultrasonography. The high degree of endometrial perfusion shown by color Doppler ultrasonography and on three-dimensional power Doppler histograms on the day of embryo transfer can indicate a more favorable endometrial milieu for successful in vitro fertilization.

Ultrasound Evaluation of Difference in Endometrial Thickness in Infertile and Fertile Females

“…While in our study, we chose to consider only the endometrial thickness, both endometrial thickness and pattern are generally acknowledged as predictors of the outcome of pregnancy. 13 The endometrial thickness was measured in this study for a group of 50 fertile and 50 infertile females in all three phases of the menstrual cycle and the results were compared using p value. The mean ± standard deviation for endometrial thickness was higher in fertile females than infertile females in all the three phases of menstrual cycle (Graph 1, Table 1).…”

Three-dimensional ultrasound as a predictor of pregnancy in patients undergoing ART

“…Two parameters are considered to predict pregnancy: a) endometrial volume and b) (sub) endometrial flow. a) The first studies reported a good correlation between endometrial volume and pregnancy (31)(32)(33). Although it has been shown that the endometrium must attain at least 2.0-2.5 ml to achieve a pregnancy, recent studies did not confirm the relation between endometrial volume and pregnancy outcome (33)(34)(35)(36)(37).…”

Optimal Environment for the Implantation of Human Embryo

“…Other investigators (Rinaldi et al,1996) observed correlations between a minimal endometrial thickness of 9-10 mm and higher implantation rates. Some authors (Kupesic et al,2001;Schild et al,2001) did not observe successful implantations when the endometrium was thinner than 7 mm.…”

“…The authors claimed that endometrial growth and its pattern during the controlled ovarian hyperstimulation did not influence on the implantation rate (Bassil,2001;Kupesic et al,2001;Rashidi et al,2005).…”