TRANSVAGINAL COLOR DOPPLER DETERMINATION OF THE OVARIAN AND UTERINE BLOOD-FLOW CHARACTERISTICS IN POLYCYSTIC OVARY DISEASE

Objective: To determine blood flow characteristics of ovarian and uter ine arteries in patients with endocrinologically and clinically confir med polycystic ovary disease (PCOD) in comparison with blood flow para meters observed in patients with spontaneous ovulatory cycles. Design: Controlled clinical study. Setting: Patients from Infertility Service in a tertiary care institution. Patients: Forty patients with confirm ed PCOD and 50 control patients in various phases of spontaneous menst rual cycles. Main Outcome Measure: Using transvaginal color Doppler so nography to determine ovarian morphology, ovarian blood vessel visuali zation rates, and ovarian and uterine arteries blood flow parameters ( resistance index, pulsatility index, and maximal peak velocity). These parameters were correlated with serum hormone levels. Results: Polycy stic ovaries showed typical vascular pattern: increased stromal vascul arity, a positive correlation between increased blood velocities and s erum LH levels, and a trend toward lower resistance index and pulsatil ity index values, whereas uterine arteries revealed significantly incr eased resistance index and pulsatility index values. Conclusions: The observed specific intraovarian and uterine vascular pattern in PCOD pa tients may provide additional data for conventional endocrinologic and ultrasonic diagnostic methods for PCOD.