Ovarian Follicle Evaluation: Antral Follicle Count and Follicle Monitoring During Controlled Ovarian Stimulation
Pp. 311-320 (10)
Marcela Alencar Coelho Neto, Wellington de Paula Martins, Maria Lucia dos Santos Lima, Carolina de Oliveira Nastri and Nicholas Raine-Fenning
Abstract
Transvaginal Ultrasound (TVUS) is widely used to assess the number and
the size of the follicles in clinical practice, particularly for women undergoing assisted
reproductive techniques (ART). The antral follicle count (AFC) is defined by the
number of follicles considering both ovaries by TVUS and it is mainly used to assess
woman´s functional ovarian reserve, which is useful to predict the ovarian
responsiveness to controlled ovarian stimulation (COS) with gonadotropins. During
COS, monitoring of follicle growth helps on: cancelation of cycles, appropriate time to
trigger final follicular maturation and assessment of the risk of OHSS (ovarian
hyperstimulation syndrome). Traditionally, follicle counting and measuring are
performed by two-dimensional TVUS, but the use of three-dimensional TVUS allows
faster acquisition time and standardized evaluation; additionally it provides additional
features as the multiplanar view, volume contract imaging (VCI) and Sono-Automatic
Volume Calculation (SonoAVC), which might help improving the reliability of follicle
count and measurement.
Keywords:
Ovarian follicle, Two-dimensional, Three-dimensional, Ultrasound.
Affiliation:
Av. Bandeirantes, 3900 – 8º andar - HCRP - Campus Universitario, Ribeirao Preto-SP, Brazil.