Color Doppler imaging and measurements of intraovarian and intrauterine vascularization on basal ultrasound examination in spontaneous ovulatory and anovulatory cycles

Abstract

Background/Aim. Any organs functioning directly depends on vascularization. It applies also to the uterus and ovary which go through changes of vascularization during a menstruation cycle. The aim of this investigation was to determine differences in intrauterine and ovarian stromal arterioral blood flow on basal ultrasound examination (day 2-4) between spontaneous ovulatory and anovulatory cycles. Methods. This prospective clinical investigation included 205 patients divided into two groups: with ovulatory and with anovulatory cycles. Results. Resistance to ovarian arterioral stromal blood flow was significantly lower in the patients with ovulatory cycles (pulsatile index - PI 0.97 ± 0.4 vs 1.93 ± 1.37; p = 0.001737; and (resistance index - RI 0.55 ± 0.12 vs 0.68 ± 0.14; p = 0.040033). There were no statistically significant differences in arcuate arterioral blood flow in the pateints with ovulatory and anovulatory cycles (PI 1.21 ± 0.34 vs 61 ± 0,61 p = 0.136161 and RI 0.64 ± 0.11 vs 0.74 ± 0.07; p = 0.136649). The patients with ovulatory cycles had lower uterine radial arterioral blood flow than the patients with anovulatory cycles (PI 1.001 ± 0.22 vs 1.61 ± 0.23 p = 0.007501 and RI 0.55 ± 0.08 vs 0.71 ± 0.12; p = 0,0460113). The patients with ovulatory cycles had lower subendometrial arterioral blood flow resistance (PI 0.69 ± 0.19 vs 1.385±0.09; p = 0.00622 and RI 0.44 ± 0.09 vs 0.65 ± 0.02; p = 0.027458). Conclusion. Color Doppler ultrasuond imaging and measurements of intrauterine and ovarian stromal arterioral blood flow on basal ultrasound examination (day 2-4), showed lower resistance to blood flow in ovulatory than in anovulatory cycles.

Keywords

• ultrasonography
• Doppler
• color
• uterus
• ovary
• blood flow velocity
• ovulation