Susan Adams and Christopher Murphy from the University of Sydney have devised a simple way of assessing the likelihood of an embryo implanting in the uterus using electron microscopy. They took a biopsy of uterine lining from a woman who had failed to conceive after several attempts at IVF, and examined it for structures called uterodomes, which are known to be associated with a receptive uterus. They found that uterodomes were almost completely absent.
The patient was then given the hormones oestrogen and progesterone until her uterine lining contained an abundance of uterodomes, judged by examining further tissue samples under the electron microscope. Encouraged by the changes they observed, Adams and Murphy decided to retry IVF. Implantation of frozen embryos succeeded on the first attempt, and the women subsequently gave birth to twins.
The researchers believe that the use of electron microscopy to assess the receptivity of the uterus to implantation could be a valuable tool, when used on a case-by-case basis, to help women who were previously unsuccessful in their attempts to become pregnant.
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