Effect of endometrial thickness changes on clinical pregnancy rates after progesterone administration in a single frozen-thawed euploid blastocyst transfer cycle using natural cycles with luteal support for PGT-SR- and PGT-M-assisted reproduction: a retrospective cohort study

• Main Authors: Ziqi Jin, Jingdi Li, EnTong Yang, Hao Shi, Zhiqin Bu, Wenbin Niu, Fang Wang, Mingzhu Huo, Hui Song, YiLe Zhang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2021-10-01
• Series: Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology
• Subjects: Endometrial thickness change ratio; Euploid blastocyst transfer; Clinical pregnancy rates; Natural cycle; Transvaginal ultrasound
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12958-021-00841-x

Abstract Background To investigate whether the endometrial thickness change ratio from the progesterone administration day to the blastocyst transfer day is associated with pregnancy outcomes in a single frozen-thawed euploid blastocyst transfer cycle. Methods All patients used natural cycles with luteal support for endometrial preparation and selected a single euploid blastocyst for transfer after a biopsy for preimplantation genetic testing. The endometrial thickness was measured by transvaginal ultrasound on the progesterone administration day and the transfer day, the change in endometrial thickness was measured, and the endometrial thickness change ratio was calculated. According to the change rate of endometrial thickness, the patients were divided into three groups: the endometrial thickness compaction group, endometrial thickness non-change group and endometrial thickness expansion group. Among them, the endometrial thickness non-change and expansion groups were combined into the endometrial thickness noncompaction group. Results Ultrasound images of the endometrium in 219 frozen-thawed euploid blastocyst transfer cycles were evaluated. The clinical pregnancy rate increased with the increase in endometrial thickness change ratio, while the miscarriage rate and live birth rate were comparable among the groups. The multiple logistic regression results showed that in the fully adjusted model a higher endometrial thickness change ratio (per 10%) was associated with a higher clinical pregnancy rate (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.29; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01–1.64; P = .040). Similarly, when the patients were divided into three groups according to the change rate of endometrial thickness, the endometrial thickness noncompaction group had a significant positive effect on the clinical pregnancy rate compared with the endometrial thickness compaction group after adjusting for all covariates. Conclusions In frozen-thawed euploid blastocyst transfer cycles in which the endometrium was prepared by natural cycles with luteal support, the clinical pregnancy rate was higher in cycles without endometrial compaction after progesterone administration.