14-Apr-03 Endometrial Function Test Helps Improve ART Success Rates

At the American Society for Reproductive Medicine's Annual Meeting, Dr Harvey Kliman of Yale University and his colleagues, presented their findings on their latest research into how tests on endometrial function can improve assisted reproductive technologies (ART).  They found that a test of endometrial function could guide ART techniques and improve success rates.

Dr Kliman explained that many cases of unexplained infertility could be attributed to abnormalities in the implantation process.  He went on to explain that this was especially significant if all other reasons had been eliminated and the patient continued to have repeated ART cycle failures.

The researchers collected endometrial biopsies from 195 patients over a 2 year period who had had one or more previous ART failures.  They then compared these biopsies with the results obtained from a healthy control group.

Of the 195 women in the research group, 145 were found to have abnormal endometrial test results.  Of these 145 women, 37 received some form of intervention before attempting another ART cycle.  Of these 37 women, 12 had further endometrial function tests that were classified as normal or significantly improved.  7 of these women underwent another ART cycle and 5 women subsequently fell pregnant.

Dr Kliman reported that overall, 51% of women with normal endometrial function tests eventually fell pregnant, compared with 9% of those women with an abnormal result who did not subsequently have any medical or surgical intervention.

Although Dr Kliman said that this was still a 'pilot study', his research so far has found that there was an 80% pregnancy rate in the group of women studied who previously had had a high ART failure rate.

'Endometrial Function Test Helps Improve ART Success Rates', Source:  www.medscape.com/