Power Doppler endometrial evaluation as a method for the prognosis of embryo implantation in an ICSI program

Purpose: The objective of the present study was to evaluate power Doppler o f the endometrium as a parameter for the prognosis of embryo implantation i n patients who underwent intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). Methods: The power Doppler was performed on a transverse section at the lev el of the uterine fundus on the day of human chorionic gonadotropin in 185 patients who submitted to ovarian stimulation for ICSI. The endometrium was divided into four equal quadrants and classified as grade I, II, III, or I V according to the visualization of the power Doppler in the quadrants, The color Doppler signal was considered to be positive when it reached at leas t the basal layer of the endometrium. Results: Age, number of days of stimulation, number of follicles greater th an or equal to 16 mm, number of oocytes in metaphase II retrieved and ferti lization rate did not differ patients with the four different types of endo metrial grades. Endometrial thickness and the pulsatility index of uterine artery also were similar for the four grades. The rate of embryo implantati on also did not differ significantly (P = 0.53) among groups: grade I = 10% ; grade II = 11.6%; grade III = 15.4%; grade IV = 10.5%. The pregnancy rate s were grade I = 25%; grade II = 29.7%; grade III = 37.5%; grade IV = 23.8% (P = 0.44). Conclusions: Our delta demonstrate that isolated evaluation of endometrial vascularization with power Doppler is not an important factor for the predi ction of pregnancy in nn ICSI program.