Measurement of perifollicular blood flow of the dominant preovulatory follicle using three‐dimensional power Doppler

Abstract

K E Y W O R D S: Results In nine cycles no oocyte was retrieved (Group A), in seven cycles no fertilization occurred (Group B) and in 30 cycles no implantation occurred (Group C). Six cycles resulted in pregnancy (Group D). There were no statistically significant differences in pulsed and power Doppler indices between these groups. However, the percentage of VFS in the capsule was higher than average in cycles with implantation (19.22 ± 16.82 vs. 12.42 ± 8.89, NS)

Periovulatory follicular volume and vascularization determined by 3D and power Doppler sonography as pregnancy predictors in intrauterine insemination cycles

“…In a similar study, but applied to IVF cycles, Vlaisavljevic et al studied follicular and perifollicular vascularization (5-mm perifollicular tissue capsule) and its influence on the success of IVF. 15 They could not find any statistically significant difference between the vascular indices of periovulatory follicles in women who became pregnant and those in women who did not.…”

“…15 It seems like a contradiction that the lower the perfusion is, the higher the possibilities of conceiving. However, some other authors have observed that the response to ovarian stimulation is better in women with higher stromal flow.…”

Echographic Evidence of Follicle Development and Maturation

“…9,14,15 In other studies, the authors report a statistically significant increase in PSV in perifollicular vessels, but no change in PI. 9,14 In the later study of Gavric Lovrec et al 16 carried out in a larger group (a total of 178 cycles) of unstimulated cycles, no statistically significant increase in PSV between fertilization and nonfertilization cycles was demonstrated, but rather a decrease in PI 12 The more uniform vascular network in the capsule was a more frequent finding than average in cycles with implantation compared to nonimplantation cycles, but this difference only reached borderline statistical significance. A 3D reconstruction of vessels is necessary in order to track them and to divide the total blood volume into the individual contributions of each vessel forming part of this vascular network.…”

“…From our results we can hypothesize that those follicles containing oocytes able to produce pregnancy have a more uniform perifollicular vascular network. 12 Early angiographic studies carried out by color Doppler ultrasonography in natural cycles showed that the main characteristics of blood flow in perifollicular tissue of nondominant growing antral follicles were low velocity and high resistance (Fig. 2).…”

Changes in perifollicular vascularity after administration of human chorionic gonadotropin measured by quantitative three-dimensional power Doppler ultrasound

“…To overcome this in individual estimation of perifollicular vascularization, we developed a 3D reconstruction of power Doppler perifollicular vascularization [14]. Several diagnostic indices are introduced and computed from the 3D model, including blood volume, the number of blood vessels and their importance, and the ratio of the total blood volume in the 5-mm tissue capsule around the dominant follicle.…”