Endometrial vascularity and ongoing pregnancy after IVF

Abstract

Background: Embryo transfer is prone to failure.

Aim: To investigate whether endometrial vascularity influences in vitro fertilization (IVF) outcome.

Methods: Total 144 patients receiving IVF (conventional or microinjection) were assessed with color and power Doppler on the day of embryo transfer: age, IVF type, number and quality of embryos, endometrial thickness and aspect, mean uterine PI, uterine notch, type of endometrial vascularity (peripheral or sub- and intra-endometrial), and pregnancy involving second trimester were recorded.

Results: 27 (18.7%) pregnancies were obtained. By univariate analysis, two parameters were significant: high frequency of uterine notch (P = 0.03) and peri-endometrial vascularity (P = 0.012) in the group of failures. Multivariate analysis by logistic regression clearly showed that the absence of sub- and intra-endometrial color signal decreased the chances of pregnancy eight-fold odds ratio (OR) = 0.14 [CI: 0.029-0.68].

Conclusion: In this limited series, the presence of sub- and intra-endometrial vascularity on the day of transfer seemed to be mandatory for obtaining an ongoing pregnancy.