Introduction: In recent years, ultrasound has become more widely used to identify the exact location of the tip of the embryo transfer catheter immediately before placing embryos into the uterine cavity. The purpose of this study was to indentify whether ultrasound guided embryo transfer improved the clinical pregnancy rate
Methods: Between 2006 and 2007, the results of fresh embryo transfer in 361 women having their first trial of in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer were examined.
Results: There were no differences in age or baseline FSH levels between the two groups. Ultrasound guided embryo transfer was performed in 55 cycles (15.2% of cycles). The overall pregnancy rate was 129/306 (42.2%) in the non ultrasound guided cases and 16/55 ( 29.1%) in the ultrasound guided cases. The implantation rate was 26.8% for non-ultrasound guided and 19.6% for ultrasound guided embryo transfer
Discussion: At first glance these data suggest that ultrasound guided transfer resulted in a worse pregnancy rate than non ultrasound guided transfer. However, there was bias in case selection and patients who were expected to have a difficult transfer were more likely to have ultrasound guidance. We now routinely perform ultrasound guidance and in this presentation we will update the data with results from 2008.