IB research on assessments methods of uterine peristalsis before embryo transfer

Implantation rate after embryo transfer is a limiting factor in the success of IVF treatments. A high percentage of chromosomally normal embryos with good morphology fail to implant in apparently normal uterus thus efforts must be devoted to improving uterine receptivity in clinical practice. The uterine peristaltic wave frequency before embryo transfer has been inversely related to the clinical pregnancy and treatment with oxytocin antagonists has been suggested to improve the outcomes of In Vitro Fertilisation treatments. In the near future, the assessment of uterine contractions frequency could be a useful tool in the clinical practice. 

This is one of the pieces of research work carried out by Instituto Bernabeu which was accepted by the Scientific Committee at the British Fertility Society (BFS) for its Annual Meeting which took place in Newcastle (UK) on 7th and 8th January, 2016.

In this research, uterine peristaltic activity was prospectively assessed before blastocyst transfer by transvaginal ultrasonography in 20 egg recipients. After scanning the mid-sagittal plane of the uterus, the probe was fixed as steady as possible while a 6 min video of uterine peristalsis was recorded simultaneously. The records were analysed by three independent experienced observers performed three evaluations of every video. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to validate the variability.

All patients presented contractions during the evaluation with an average of 1.7/min. The ICC to evaluate the inter-observer variability was 0.839, regarding the intra-observer variability, the ICC was 0.95 for the observer “A”, 0.948 for the observer “B” and 0. for the observer “C”.

ICC was excellent according Fleiss scale for the intra- and inter-observer variability. Accelerated video recording of transvaginal ultrasonography scan is a reliable method to assess the uterine contractions before embryo transfer.

TRANSVAGINAL ULTRASONOGRAPHY ACCELERATED VIDEO RECORDING IS A RELIABLE METHOD FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF UTERINE PERISTALSIS BEFORE EMBRYO TRANSFER. Poster. Moliner B, Ll. Aparicio J, Sellers F, Luque L, Bernabeu R

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