title: Endometrial spatio-temporal image correlation (STIC) and prediction of outcome following assisted reproductive treatment.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to correlate manual and spherical endometrial spatio-temporal image correlation (STIC) vascularity indices with assisted reproductive treatment (ART) outcomes.
  
  
  METHODS
  STIC ultrasound assessments of the endometrium were carried out at three time-points in 127 women in a prospective observational study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Biochemical pregnancy rate was 69% (88/127), with a biochemical and clinical pregnancy loss of 17%. Endometrial STIC vascularity indices in the assessed time-points did not differ between subjects who achieved a clinical pregnancy and those who did not (P>0.05). For first trimester miscarriage, minimal manual vascularization index (VI) at oocyte collection (cut-off value ≥0.7; sensitivity 80.0% and specificity 68.1%) demonstrated the highest area under the curve (AUC) of 0.8.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In summary, STIC modality is not a useful tool to predict ART outcome, however manual STIC analysis of endometrial vascularity seems to be more accurate in predicting first trimester pregnancy loss.
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Lukasz T
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Polanski
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Miriam N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Baumgarten
authors.affiliation: University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brosens
authors.affiliation: University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Siobhan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Quenby
authors.affiliation: Division of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Bruce
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ribeirao Preto Medical School, University of Sao Paulo (DGO-FMRP-USP), Ribeirao Preto, Brazil.
authors.forename: Wellington
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Martins
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom; Nurture Fertility, The East Midlands Fertility Centre, The Fertility Partnership, United Kingdom. Electronic address: Nick.Fenning@nottingham.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Nick
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Raine-Fenning
mesh_terms: D004717:Endometrium / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D011247:Pregnancy; D018873:Pregnancy Rate; D011446:Prospective Studies; D027724:Reproductive Techniques, Assisted; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000379:methods*
keywords: 3D ultrasound; In vitro fertilization (IVF); Spatio-temporal image correlation (STIC); Three-dimensional power Doppler