LACK OF CORRELATION BETWEEN ULTRASONOGRAPHY AND HISTOLOGIC STAGING OFTHE ENDOMETRIUM IN IN-VITRO FERTILIZATION (IVF) PATIENTS

In 53 patients of an in vitro fertilization (IVF) program with unsucce ssful fertilization of oocytes, an endometrial biopsy was carried out on the day of the intended embryo transfer, The results were compared with the thickness (assessed on the very same day by means of ultrason ography) and the echo pattern of the endometrium, which was classified into four grades (A to D), We found grade A in 16 cases (30%), grade B in 22 cases (41.5%) and grade C in 15 cases (28.5%); no endometrium was assessed as grade D, The distribution of histologic findings was n ot significantly skewed within the respective grading categories (only 37.5% of grade A endometria, 63.5% of grade B endometria and 66.5% of grade C endometria were in phase with the menses), The in-phase and o ut-of-phase endometria did not display significant differences in endo metrial thickness (8.8 +/- 0.29 mm vs, 9.13 +/- 0.4 mm), Neither the s onographically measured endometrial thickness nor the echo pattern cor related with the histologic findings, suggesting that ultrasonography is inadequate for drawing reliable conclusions about endometrial recep tivity in an IVF program. (C) 1997 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology.