The relationships between endometrial thickness, and blood flow and pregnancy rates in in-vitro fertilization

To establish whether endometrial blood flow and thickness can predict the success rate of in-vitro fertilization, 156 cycles were evaluated. The parameters were: endometrial colour and power Doppler pulsatility index (PI), resistance index (RI), systolic/diastolic ratio (S/D) and endometrial thickness. Each patient was studied: on the day of ovum retrievalpickup, and on the day of embryo transfer. Non-endometrial parameters studied were: age, oestrestrogen and progesterone concentrations, number of oocytes, and number of embryos. Pregnancy was achieved in 31 cycles. On the day of ovum retrieval, patients who conceived had PI, RI, and S/D values of 0.997, 0.563, and 2.403, respectively. Patients who did not conceive had values of 0.994, 0.584, and 2.477 respectively. The power Doppler technique provided similar results. On the day of embryo transfer, pregnant patients had PI, RI and S/D values of 1.096, 0.590 and, 2.597 respectively, while in the nonpregnant patients the values were 1.104, 0.603 and, 2.723 respectively. Power Doppler showed similar numbers. The differences between pregnant and non-pregnant patients were not statistically significant in any of the parameters. Endometrial thickness and blood flow does not seem to correlate with pregnancy rate in IVF.