The Role of Doppler-Ultrasonography in Reproductive Medicine

In: New Trends in Reproductive Medicine · 1996 · pp. 289–302 · doi:10.1007/978-3-642-60961-9_29 · W2123941152
book-chapter OA: closed CC0
Full text JSON View on OpenAlex View at publisher
AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06+body, 2026-06-08

Color Doppler and pulsed-wave Doppler ultrasonography noninvasively evaluate the female pelvis, aiding follicular monitoring, predicting ovulation, and assessing perfusion in reproductive medicine.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

AI-generated deep summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-08 · read from full text

This chapter reviews how newly developed transvaginal color Doppler and pulsed-wave Doppler modalities evaluate intraovarian and uterine perfusion as a noninvasive extension of pelvic examination, including their use for follicular monitoring and for replacing laparoscopy in some IVF procedures. It reports that transvaginal color flow offers superior accuracy and reproducibility, enabling visualization of small vessels under physiologic conditions and supporting prediction of ovulation or detection of ovulatory and luteal phase disorders, with Doppler changes potentially relevant to infertility and early pregnancy loss. A key limitation acknowledged is that it remains unclear whether observed blood flow changes play a causal role in infertility versus reflecting inadequate perfusion outcomes. This paper does not explicitly discuss endometriosis or adenomyosis; it was included in the corpus via a keyword match in the upstream search index.

Read from the paper's body, not the abstract. Not a substitute for reading the paper. No clinical advice. How this works

Full text 11,179 characters · extracted from oa-doi-fallback · 3 sections · click to expand

Abstract

The newly developed color Doppler modality and pulsed-wave Doppler provide a unique noninvasive method for evaluating normal and abnormal conditions in the female pelvis (Kurjak et al. 1995). This method acts as a logical extension of digital examination, but it is also a method of choice for follicular monitoring and has rapidly replaced laparoscopy for follicle aspiration in in vitro fertilization programs. Transvaginal color flow has superior accuracy, reproducibility, and enables the visualization of small vessels under physiologic conditions, such as follicular vascularity and corpus luteum blood flow. The role of this new modality in the field of human reproduction is to evaluate intraovarian and uterine perfusion. It may also help to predict ovulation and detect certain ovulatory disorders and the luteal phase defect. Doppler investigation of ovarian blood flow may improve the early diagnosis of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome in patients with ovulation induction. Initial impressions concerning the usefulness of blood flow studies in the infertile patient have been confirmed by numerous studies during last 3 years. However, it is still not clear whether blood flow changes play a role in infertility, or whether a failure of adequate perfusion could result in early pregnancy loss. It is hoped that this simplified examination technique will be used as a clinical therapeutic aid and exciting future developments are anticipated. Preview Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF. Similar content being viewed by others

References

Bassett DL (1943) The changes in the vascular pattern of the ovary of the albino rat during the estrous cycle. Am J Anat 73:251–291 Battaglia C, Larocca E, Lanzani A, Valentini M, Genazzani AR (1990) Doppler ultrasound studies of the uterine arteries in spontaneous and IVF cycles. Gynecol Endocrinol 4:245–250 Berkowitz RI, Lynch L, Chitkara V, Wilkins IA, Mehalek KE, Alvarez A (1988) Selective reduction of multifetal pregnancies in the first trimester. N Engl J Med 318:1042 Bourne T, Jurkovic D, Waterstone J, Campbell S, Collins WP (1991) Intrafollicular blood flow during human ovulation. Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol 1:53 Boyers SP, Lavy G, Russell JB, DeCherney AH (1987) A paired analysis of in vitro fertilization and cleavage rates of first versus last recovered preovulatory human oocytes exposed to varying intervals of 100% CO2 pneumoperitoneum and general anesthesia. Fertil Steril 48:987 Brandes JM, Itskovitz J, Timor Tritsch IE, Drungan A, Frydman R (1987) Reduction of the number of embryos in multiple pregnancy. Fertil Steril 48:326 Collins W, Jurkovic D, Bourne T, Kurjak A, Campbell S (1991) Ovarian morphology, endocrine function and intra-follicular blood flow during periovulatory period. Hum Reprod 3:319–324 Coulam CB, Bustillo M, Soenksen DM, Britten S (1994) Ultrasonographic predictors of implantation after assisted reproduction. Fertil Steril 62:1004–1010 De Ziegler D, Bessis R, Frydman R (1991) Vascular resistance of uterine arteries: physiological effects of estradiol and progesterone. Fertil Steril 55:775–779 Deutinger J, Reinthaller A, Bernaschek G (1989) Transvaginal pulsed Doppler measurement of blood flow velocity in the ovarian arteries during cycle stimulation and after follicle puncture. Fertil Steril 51:466–470 Feichtinger W, Kameter P (1986) Transvaginal sector scan sonography for needle guided transvaginal follicle aspiration in gynecologic routine and research. Fertil Steril 45:722 Findlay JK (1986) Angiogenesis in reproductive tissues. J Endocrinol 111:357 Glissant A, de Mouzon J, Frydman R (1985) Ultrasound study of the endometrium during in vitro fertilization cycles. Fertil Steril 44:701 Gonen Y, Casper RF, Jacobson W, Blanker J (1989) Endometrial thickness and growth during ovarian stimulation: a possible predictor of implantation in in vitro fertilization. Fertil Steril 52:446 Gonen Y, Blanker J, Casper RF (1990a) Transvaginal ultrasonically guided aspiration: a comparative study with laparoscopically guided follicular aspiration. J Clin Ultrasound 18:257 Gonen Y, Blankier J, Casper RF (1990b) Transvaginal ultrasound in selective embryo reduction for multiple pregnancy. Obstet Gynecol 75:720 Goswamy RK, Steptoe PC (1989) Doppler Ultrasound studies of the uterine artery in spontaneous ovarian cycles. Hum Reprod 3:721 Goswamy RK, Williams G, Steptoe PC (1988) Decreased uterine perfusion a cause of infertility. Hum Reprod 3:955 Gratton RC, Lyons EA, Harrington JC, Levi CS (1990) Basic physics and instrumentation of transvaginal color imaging. In: Kurjak A (ed) Transvaginal color Doppler. Parthenon, Carnfort, pp 9–17 Hurley VA, Osborn JC, Leoni MA, Leeton J (1991) Ultrasound guided embryo transfer: a controlled trial. Fertil Steril 55:559 Itskovitz J, Boldes R, Thaler I, Bronstein M, Erlik Y, Brandes JM (1989) Transvaginal ultrasonography-guided aspiration of gestational sacs for selective abortion in multiple pregnancy. Am J Obstet Gynecol 160:215 Kupesic S, Kurjak A (1993) Uterine and ovarian perfusion during the periovulatory period assessed by transvaginal color Doppler. Fertil Steril 60:439–443 Kupesic S, Kurjak A (1994) The role of color Doppler in vaginal sonographic puncture procedures. In: Kurjak A (ed) Atlas of transvaginal color Doppler. Parthenon, London, pp 171–197 Kupesik S, Kurjak A, Stilinovic K (1994) The assessment of female infertility. In: Kurjak A (ed) Atlas of transvaginal color Doppler. Parthenon, London, pp 171–197 Kurjak A, Kupesic-Urek S, Schulman H, Zalud I (1991) Transvaginal color Doppler in the assessment of ovarian and uterine blood flow in infertile women. Fertil Steril 56:870 Kurjak A, Kupesic S, Zalud I, Predanic M (1995) Transvaginal color Doppler. In: Dodson MG (ed) Transvaginal ultrasound. Churchill Livingstone, New York, pp 325–339 Law G, Restrego-Candelo M, Diamond M, Shapiro B, Grunfield L, DeCherney AH (1988) Laparoscopic and transvaginal ova recovery: the effect on ova quality. Fertil Steril 49:1002–1004 Leeton J (1984) Embryo transfer. In: Trounson A, Wood C (eds) In vitro fertilization and embryo transfer. Churchill Livingstone, Edinburgh, p 197 Lenz S, Leeton J, Rogers P, Trounson A (1987) Transfundal transfer of embryos using ultrasound. J In Vitro Fertil Embryo Transf 4:13 Lewin A, Laufer N, Rabinowitz R, Margalioth BJ, Bar I, Scheneker JG (1986) Ultrasonically guided oocyte collection under local anesthesia: the first choice for in vitro fertilization — a comparative study with laparoscopy. Fertil Steril 46:257–258 Lopata A, Johnston IWH, Leeton JF (1974) Collection of human oocytes at laparoscopy and laparotomy. Fertil Steril 25:1030–1032 Mastroyanii C, Hosoi Y, Yoshimura Y, Atlas SJ, Walach EE (1987) The effect on carbon dioxide pneumoperitoneum on rabbit follicular oocytes and early embryonic development. Fertil Steril 47:1025 Merce LT, Garces D, Barco MJ, De la Fuente F (1992) Intraovarian Doppler velocimetry in olvulatory, dysovulatory and anovulatory cycles. Ultrasound Obstet Gynaecol 2:197–202 Niswender GD, Moore RT, Akbar AM, Nett TM, Diekman MA (1975) Flow of blood to the ovaries of ewes throughout the estrous cycle. Biol Reprod 13:381–388 Parsons JH, Bolton VN, Wilson L, Campbell S (1987) Pregnancies following in vitro fertilization and ultrasound directed surgical embryo transfer by periurethral and transvaginal techniques. Fertil Steril 48:691 Ratmacher RP, Andersson LL (1968) Blood flow and progesterone levels in the ovary of cycling and pregnant pigs. Am J Physiol 214:1014–1018 Russell JB, DeCherney AH, Hobbins JC (1987) A new transvaginal probe and biopsy guide for oocyte retrieval. Fertil Steril 47:350 Scholtes MC, Wladimiroff JW, van Rijen HJM, Hop WCJ (1989) Uterine and ovarian flow velocity waveforms in the normal menstrual cycle: a transvaginal Doppler study. Fertil Steril 52:981–985 Steer CV, Mills CV, Campbell S (1991) Vaginal color Doppler assessment on the day of embryo transfer (ET) accurately predicts patients in an in vitro fertilization programme with suboptimal uterine perfusion who fail to be pregnant. Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol 1 [Suppl]:79 Steer CV, Campbell S, Tan SL, Crayford T, Mills C, Mason BA, Collins WP (1992) The use of transvaginal color flow imaging after in vitro fertilization to identify optimum uterine conditions before embryo transfer. Fertil Steril 57:372–376 Steer CV, Seang Lin Tan, Mason BA, Campbell S (1994) Midluteal-phase vaginal color Doppler assessment of uterine impedance in a subfertile population. Fertil Steril 61:53–58 Steer CV, Lin Tan S, Dillon D, Mason BA, Campbell S (1995) Vaginal color Doppler assessment of uterine artery impedance correlates with immunohistochemical markers of endometrial receptivity required for the implantation of an embryo. Fertil Steril 63:101–108 Steptoe P, Edwards RG (1970) Laparoscopic recovery of preovulatory human oocytes after priming the ovaries with gonadotropin. Lancet 1:683 Sterzik K, Grab D, Sasse V, Huetter W, Rosenbusch B, Terinde R (1989) Doppler sonographic findings and their correlation with implantation in an in vitro fertilization program. Fertil Steril 52:825–828 Stone SC, Schimberni M, Schuster PA, Werlin LB, Weatherbee P (1987) Incidence of multipe gestations in the presence of two or more mature follicles in the conception cycle. Fertil Steril 48:503 Tekay A, Martikainen H, Jouppila P (1995) Blood flow changes in uterine and ovarian vasculature, and predictive value of transvaginal pulsed colour Doppler ultrasonography in an in vitro fertilization programme. Hum Reprod 10:688–693 Thaler I, Itskovitch J, Manor D, Brandes J (1990) Blood flow measurements in the uterine and ovarian arteries in patients undergoing IVF/ET and in early pregnancy, performed with a transvaginal Doppler duplex system. In: Maschiach S et al (eds) Advances in assisted reproductive technologies. Plenum, New York, pp 545–557 Wada I, Hsu CC, Williams G, Macnamee MC, Brindsen PR (1994) The benefits of lowdose aspirin therapy in women with impaired uterine perfusion during assisted conception. Hum Reprod 9:1954–1957 Weiner Z, Thaler I, Levron J, Lewit N, Itgskovitz-Eldor J (1993) Assessment of ovarian and uterine blood flow by transvaginal color Doppler in ovarian-stimulated women: correlation with the number of follicles and steroid hormone levels. Fertil Steril 59:743–749 Editor information Editors and Affiliations Rights and permissions Copyright information © 1996 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg About this paper Cite this paper Kupesic, S., Kurjak, A., Ertan, A.K., Babic, M.M., Schmidt, W. (1996). The Role of Doppler-Ultrasonography in Reproductive Medicine. In: Broer, K.H., Turanli, I. (eds) New Trends in Reproductive Medicine. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-60961-9_29 Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-60961-9_29 Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg Print ISBN: 978-3-642-64630-0 Online ISBN: 978-3-642-60961-9 eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Keywords

These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

Text is read by the "Ask this paper" AI Q&A widget below. Extraction quality varies by source — PMC NXML preserves structure cleanly, OA-HTML may include some navigation residue, and OA-PDF can have broken hyphenation. The publisher copy (via DOI) is the canonical version.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Ask this paper AI returns verbatim quotes from the full text · source: oa-doi-fallback

Answers must be backed by verbatim quotes from this paper's full text. Hallucinated quotes are dropped automatically; if no verbatim passage answers the question, we say so. How this works

Citation neighborhood (sparse)

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

Cites (1)

References (51)

Source provenance

openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK