Doppler velocimetry of the uterine arteries after hysteroscopic rollerballendometrial ablation

The aim of this study was to document the Doppler indices [pulsatility inde x (PI) and resistance index (RT)] of the uterine arteries in 30 patients wh o under,vent hysteroscopic rollerball endometrial ablation for dysfunctiona l uterine bleeding by transvaginal pulsed Doppler sonography, and to reveal whether treatment failures (persistent menometrorrhagia) can be predicted by the blood flow characteristics of the uterine arteries in advance. On th e basis of the outcome of patients at the end of the first postoperative ye ar, the Doppler indices of the uterine arteries were meaningful 1 year afte r the operation when PI (1.32 +/- 0.11; mean +/- SD) and RI (0.71 +/- 0.04) in six menometrorrhagic patients were statistically different from PI (2.1 9 +/- 0.28; 1.95 +/- 0.36 and 1.82 +/- 0.37) and RI (0.87 +/- 0.06; 0.82 +/ - 0.06 and 0.81 +/- 0.04) in normally menstruating, amenorrhoeic and hypome norrhoeic patients respectively (P < 0.05). On the other hand, the patients who would be menometrorrhagic one year after the operation had a thicker e ndometrium in the first post-operative month. These findings suggest that t he angiogenetic role of the persistent endometrial islands after endometria l ablation needs at some time to be reflected as changes in the Doppler par ameters of the uterine arteries.