Donald School Journal of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology

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VOLUME 2 , ISSUE 4 ( October-December, 2008 ) > List of Articles

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Three-dimensional Ultrasound in the Fertility Clinic

Shilpa Deb, Zeina Haoula, Nick Raine-Fenning

Keywords : Three-dimensional,ultrasound,ovarian reserve,reproductive medicine,gynecology,endometrial receptivity

Citation Information : Deb S, Haoula Z, Raine-Fenning N. Three-dimensional Ultrasound in the Fertility Clinic. Donald School J Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol 2008; 2 (4):65-74.

DOI: 10.5005/jp-journals-10009-1079

License: CC BY-NC 4.0

Published Online: 01-12-2009

Copyright Statement:  Copyright © 2008; The Author(s).


Abstract

The management of subfertility involves a detailed assessment of the couple to identify factors that may affect or predict the outcome of treatment. Three-dimensional imaging is one of the recent advances in the field of ultrasound which has several obvious benefits that relate to an improved spatial orientation and the demonstration of additional image planes such as the coronal plane. Many clinicians remain unconvinced by its reputed advantages and three-dimensional ultrasound is not without disadvantages. These mainly relate to the cost involved and training requirements. Threedimensional ultrasound imaging is still at a relatively early stage in terms of its role as a day-to-day imaging modality in gynecology and reproductive medicine. Other than its application in the assessment and differentiation of uterine anomalies there is little evidence that three-dimensional ultrasound results in clinically-relevant benefit or negates the need for further investigation. Future work should ensure that three-dimensional ultrasound is compared to conventional imaging in randomized trials where the observer is blinded to the outcome such that its role in reproductive medicine can be truly evaluated in an evidence-based manner.


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