Onm-2: The Role of Ultrasound in Infertility

Ultrasound plays an increasing role in the evaluation, monitoring, and treatment of infertility. About 15% of all couples attempting to have children are affected by infertility. As women delay conception due to career choices and age, the frequency of infertility increases. Infertility is defined as no conception after one year of unprotected intercourse. Ultrasound plays a remarkable role in infertility since it permits the direct visualization. With the increasing utility of the transvaginal ultrasound, the female pelvis became more and more accessible; a wider variety of gynecological pathology was open to diagnosis and treatment. Real time conventional scan and Doppler analysis are now part of the routine pelvic exam and an accurate evaluation allows gathering a number of anatomical and even histological details. Transvaginal sonography (TVS) has multiple roles in the treatment and evaluation of fertility disorders in women: • Assessment of follicular maturity and abnormalities of ovulation. • Assessment of endometrial development. • Assessment of ovarian/endometrial blood flow • Evaluation of tubal patency • Detection and evaluation of uterine malformations • Guided follicular aspiration • Detection of adhesions, submucosal fibroids, and polyps with sonohysterography • Evaluation of complicated early pregnancy, multifetal pregnancy. The male factor alone is seen in about 30% of patients. Ultrasonography is being used with increased frequency in the evaluation of the infertile male. With the newer advances in technology, scrotal and transrectal sonography are now well established in assessment of male factor disorders. In conclusion, infertility evaluation and treatments are relying increasingly on ultrasound. Which provides information about the infertile patient.We can still conclude that sonography, in the hands of a skilled practitioner, with a good technological basis, is one of the best diagnostic tools in gynecology, successfully replacing more invasive methods.