High Endometrial Thickness Does not Affect IVF/ICSI Outcomes

Abstract

Objective: We examined the impact of thicker endometrium (>15 mm) on in vitro fertilization (IVF) outcomes by evaluating therates of clinical pregnancy, ongoing pregnancy, and live birth.Methods: Intracytoplasmic sperm injection procedures performed at a single IVF center were retrospectively examined. A total of380 cases from patients aged between 19 and 39 years were included. The patients were divided into 2 groups according to theirendometrial thickness (EMT) value determined using ultrasonography on the day of human chorionic gonadotropin administration.Results: Embryo day was 5 in 78.4% of cases with EMT <15 mm and 3 in 89.8% of cases with EMT ≥ 15 mm (p<.001). In the groupwith EMT <15 mm, IVF outcomes were 61.5% clinical pregnancy, 54.7% ongoing pregnancy, and 49.0% live birth. In the group withEMT > 15 mm, IVF outcomes were 64.3% clinical pregnancy, 52.4% ongoing pregnancy, and 41.7% live birth. There was no significant difference between the groups in terms of clinical pregnancy, ongoing pregnancy, and live birth rates (p>.05). Determiningthe EMT cut-off value as 14 mm also did not yield significant results. Live birth was present in 47.4% of the cases. There were nostatistically significant differences between the groups with and without live birth in terms of the variables examined.Conclusion: There was no significant relationship between EMT and achieving a live birth through IVF. Nevertheless, conductingprospective and comprehensive studies on thicker endometrium may yield data that could be beneficial for IVF practitioners.