Follicular vascularity is not predictive of pregnancy outcome in mild controlled ovarian stimulation and IUI cycles

Although follicular vascularity has been shown to be a good indicator of oocyte quality in IVF, scant evidence is currently available on the predictive value of this variable in terms of pregnancy rate during controlled ovarian stimulation (COS) and intrauterine insemination (IUI) cycles.

Three-hundred and eighteen patients who had received mild COS underwent transvaginal ultrasound scan before performing the IUI. Using power Doppler imaging, vascularity of follicles with a mean diameter > or =16 mm was graded into a three grades according to the circumference of the follicle in which flow was identified. When more than one follicle was observed, grading was performed for all of them, and the highest vascularity grade was recorded.

Clinical pregnancy rate (number/total) in the low-, medium- and high-grade vascularity groups was 14.1% (14/99), 10.0% (10/100) and 11.8% (14/119), respectively (P = 0.66). Similar results were observed when only monofollicular cycles were considered.

Follicular vascularity does not predict the chance of pregnancy in women undergoing mild COS and IUI cycles.