ENDOMETRIAL VOLUME CHANGE DURING SPONTANEOUS MENSTRUAL CYCLES - VOLUMETRY BY TRANSVAGINAL 3-DIMENSIONAL ULTRASOUND

Objective: At present, only limited data are available on endometrial volume during the menstrual cycle. Most of these studies deal with ani mal models and use magnetic resonance imaging for volume measuring. Th e application of three-dimensional ultrasound in endometrial volume es timation is the subject of this study. Setting: Patients visiting the outpatient unit of the division of endocrinology and reproductive medi cine of a university hospital. Patient(s): Twenty patients with a hist ory of a normal menstrual cycle were selected. Intervention(s): Ultras ound examinations were performed during a single menstrual cycle in ad dition to routine laboratory tests. Main Outcome Measure(s): Uterus-en dometrial volume ratio. Result(s): Data from 18 patients could be eval uated. In 81 examinations the endometrium volume could be determined. Mean endometrial volume measured by three-dimensional ultrasound was 1 .23 cm(3). Mean uterus volume was 48.93 cm(3). The change of the uteru s-endometrial volume ratio showed a good correlation with the day of m enstrual cycle. Quadratic regression analysis of volume and cycle leng th was R-2 = 0.432. Conclusion(s): Three-dimensional ultrasound allows assessment of volume data of the female internal genitalia. In this s tudy changes of the endometrial volume in menstrual cycles were measur ed. Additional studies are required to give information on the clinica l impact of this new technique of endometrial volume estimation. (C) 1 997 by American Society for Reproductive Medicine.