Ultrasound-guided embryo transfer maximizes the IVF results on day 3 and day 4 embryo transfer but has no impact on day 5

Y. Prapas1,2,4, N. Prapas1,2, A. Hatziparasidou2, P. Vanderzwalmen2,3, M. Nijs2,3, S. Prapa2 and G. Vlassis1

1 4th Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki 2 Iakentro Fertility Center, Thessaloniki, Greece, and 3 SIMAF, Van Helmont Hospital, Vilvoorde, Belgium

Dear Sir,

The comments by Biervliet et al. are welcomed, and especially for sharing their extensive experience on embryo transfer. They also provide an important direction for future research. We agree that the mechanical trauma of the endometrium could affect negatively the implantation in IVF cycles. In our paper (Prapas et al., 2001Go) we cited that this negative effect could be expressed by altering the uterine contractions (Fanchin et al., 1998Go; Lesny et al., 1998Go), the endometrial maturation process or another unknown mechanism. We believe that the system used by the uterus to refuse the implantation is a complex involving the uterine motility, the endometrial receptivity and the endometrial microenviroment. Obviously there is no evidence as to which factor comes first.

Concerning the pharmacological agents used to reduce uterine contractions, progesterone was used for all our cases. Tsirigotis et al. (2000) have shown that the use of a ß-mimetic (i.e. Ritodrine) in patients presenting increased uterine contractility during the peri-implantation period had a beneficial effect in their IVF cycles (Tsirigotis et al., 2000Go). We used Ritodrine in 125 IVF cycles in a prospective controlled randomized study but we did not find any statistical difference concerning the implantation and the pregnancy rates.

We agree that research into pharmacological agents, which have the potential to control the endometrial maturation process and to reduce uterine contractions during the peri-implantation period, should be encouraged in order to ameliorate our IVF pregnancy rates.

Notes

4 E-mail: iakentro{at}otentet.gr Back

References

Fanchin, R., Righini, C., Olivennes, F., Taylor, S., de Ziegler, D. and Frydman, R. (1998) Uterine contractions at the time of embryo transfer alter pregnancy rates after in-vitro fertilization. Hum. Reprod., 13, 1968–1974.[Abstract]

Lesny, P., Killick, S.R., Tetlow, R.L., Robinson, J. and Maguiness, S.D. (1998) Embryo transfer–can we learn anything new from the observation of junctional zone contractions? Hum. Reprod., 13, 1540–1546.[Abstract]

Prapas, Y., Prapas, N., Hatziparasidou, P., Vanderzwalmen, P., Nijs, M., Prapa, S. and Vlassis, G. (2001) Ultrasound-guided embryo transfer maximizes the IVF results on day 3 and day 4 embryo transfer but has no impact on day 5. Hum. Reprod., 16, 1904–1908.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

Tsirigotis, M., Pelekanos, M., Gilhespie, S., Gregorakis, S. and Pistofidis, G. (2000) Ritodrine use during the peri-implantation period reduces uterine contractility and improves implantation and pregnancy rates post-IVF. Hum. Reprod., 15, (Abs. Bk 1) O-024 p10.





This Article
Extract
FREE Full Text (PDF )
Alert me when this article is cited
Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Email this article to a friend
Similar articles in this journal
Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Similar articles in PubMed
Alert me to new issues of the journal
Add to My Personal Archive
Download to citation manager
Request Permissions
Google Scholar
Articles by Prapas, Y.
Articles by Vlassis, G.
PubMed
PubMed Citation
Articles by Prapas, Y.
Articles by Vlassis, G.