COMPARISON OF TRANSVAGINAL AND TRANSABDOMINAL ULTRASOUND FOR MONITORING FOLLICULAR DEVELOPMENT IN AN INVITRO FERTILIZATION PROGRAM

Although nowadays most oocyte retrievals for in-vitro fertilization (IVF) are performed using a transvaginal, ultrasound-directed technique, monitoring of follicular development is still often performed via the abdominal route. On the basis of 106 sonographies carried out on 71 patients during ovulation monitoring within an IVF programme, we demonstrated that the number of follicles visualized endovaginally was significantly higher than that visualized by the abdominal route: n = 1124 versus n = 772 respectively, and that their size was significantly greater using the transvaginal approach: 20.8 mm versus 18.8 mm respectively, for the largest follicle. Consequently, if ovulation monitoring is carried out transvaginally, the follicular size criteria on which human chorionic gonadotrophin is administered must be reconsidered.