Assessment of changes in eutopic endometrial vascularity of endometriosis using three-dimensional power Doppler ultrasound

Objective To evaluate the changes in eutopic endometrial vascularity of endometriosis using three-dimensional power Doppler ultrasound.Methods Forty-four women with endometriosis and 51 normal controls were studied by three-dimensional power Doppler ultrasound.Eutopic endometrial volume,vascularization index (VI),flow index (FI) and vascularization flow index (VFI) were calculated using VOCAL software.Results In proliferative phase,the mean VI was (5.499 ± 5.153)％ in patients with endometriosis and ( 1.135 ± 1.333) ％ in normal controls ( P ＜0.001 ),the mean FI was (28.832 ± 4.279)dB in patients with endometriosis and (25.544 ± 3.465)dB in normal controls ( P =0.006),the VFI was (1.769 ± 1.981 )dB in patients with endometriosis and (0.321 ± 0.397)dB in normal controls( P =0.002).In secretory phase,the mean VI was (8.693 ± 5.940) ％ in patients with endometriosis and ( 1.014±0.968)％ in normal controls ( P ＜0.001); the mean FI was (30.689 ± 3.632)dB in patients with endometriosis and (24.748 ± 3.811 )dB in normal controls( P ＜0.001 ),the VFI was (2.753 ± 2.044)dB in patients with endometriosis and (0.27 ± 0.293)dB in normal controls( P =0.001 ).Both in proliferative and secretory phase,no significant difference in endometrial volume between the two groups was observed ( P =0.108 and 0.068,respectively).Conclusions Three-dimensional power ultrasound provides a useful tool to investigate eutopic endometrial vascularization of endimetriosis. Key words: Ultrasonography;  Endometriosis ;  Eutopic endometrium