Purpose: Chronic endometritis (CE) is diagnosed via endometrial biopsy and staining for plasma cells. A threshold plasma cell count that identifies CE and predicts pregnancy outcomes has not been established, and the prevalence of plasma cells in the general infertile population is unknown. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of plasma cells in the general infertile population and whether a threshold exists which predicts live birth.
Methods: Endometrial samples were obtained prospectively from 80 women undergoing IVF, embedded in paraffin, and stained for plasma cells using mouse mono-clonal antibody for CD138. Slides were reviewed at 20× magnification and 10 random images captured. Three reviewers graded each image for plasma cells. Participants underwent single, euploid, and frozen blastocyst transfer.
Results: Forty-nine percent of samples had ≥1 plasma cell across 10 HPFs, 11% had ≥5 cells across 10 HPFs, and 4% had ≥10 cells across 10 HPFs. There was no difference in prevalence between those who did and did not achieve live birth. Using thresholds of 1, 5, and 10 plasma cells per 10 HPFs, there were no differences in implantation, clinical pregnancy, clinical pregnancy loss, or live birth rates between patients with and without CE.
Conclusion: Endometrial plasma cells are present in half the general infertile population and do not predict implantation, clinical pregnancy, clinical pregnancy loss, or live birth rates at low levels.
Keywords: Endometritis; Fertilization in vitro; Infertility; Plasma cells; Pregnancy.
© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.