Endometrial Vascularization Characterized by Optical Coherence Tomography and Immunohistochemistry in Women Undergoing In Vitro Fertilization-Embryo Transfer Treatment

Tracy Sze Man Law, Wing Ching Cheung, Fangrong Wu, Ruizhe Zhang, Jacqueline Pui Wah Chung, Chi Chiu Wang, Xiaoyan Chen, Tin Chiu Li
In: Medicina · 2019 · vol. 55(4) , pp. 81 · doi:10.3390/medicina55040081 · PMID:30934763 · W2418724889
article OA: gold CC0
🔓 Open OA copy View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Endometrial angiogenesis is a prerequisite for successful pregnancy. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a non-invasive physically optical imaging technique widely used in ophthalmology and cardiology. However, there is no study using OCT to evaluate endometrium. The aim of this study was to use OCT and traditionally histological methods to investigate endometrial vascularization in women undergoing in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET) treatment and to determine the association with the pregnancy outcome. METHODS: A total of 47 women were included in this study. OCT was used to assess endometrial vascularization by determining the high signal areas precisely on the seventh day after luteinizing hormone surge in non-conception natural cycles. Endometrial biopsies were obtained following OCT and immunohistochemistry was used to determine micro vessel and expression of vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A) in the luminal epithelium, glandular epithelium and stroma, separately. Micro vessel counting was performed and the result was expressed as micro vessel density (MVD). A semi-quantitative H-score was used to determine the staining intensity of VEGF-A. RESULTS: of 6, range 4-11). CONCLUSIONS: Both immunohistochemistry and OCT demonstrated significant difference in vascularization of the peri-implantation endometrium between subjects who did and did not conceive after IVF-ET treatment. Our findings also suggest OCT appears to be a promising non-invasive or minimally invasive alternative to study endometrial vascularity in women with reproductive failure.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Citation neighborhood (sparse)

Too few in-corpus citations on either side for a chart; here are the lists.

Cites (2)

References (26)

Source provenance

openalex
last seen: 2026-05-14T06:39:59.329640+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK