Sonographic appearances of corpus luteum as an indicator of pregnancy outcome

Abstract Objective Corpus luteum is a transient structure which plays an important role by producing crucial hormones required for conception and pregnancy maintenance. The objective of this study was to compare grey scale morphological appearances and Doppler indices of corpus luteum in normal and abnormal pregnancies during first trimester. Methodology A comparative study was carried out after getting approval from Institutional Research Ethical Committee. A total of 156 pregnant women, 78 with normal and abnormal pregnancies each, with gestational age between 5 and 8 weeks were included in the study. Out of the abnormal pregnancies 52 (66.66%) were cases of threatened while 26 (33.33%) had missed abortion. Transvaginal ultrasound was used to assess the corpus luteum on gray scale and Doppler ultrasound. Results There was no significant difference between gray-scale sonographic appearances of normal and cases of missed and threatened abortion on Chi-square test. However, PI, RI and SD ratio showed significant difference between normal and cases of missed and threatened abortion on Kruskal- Wallis test. Conclusion Doppler indices recorded from the vasculature of corpus luteum can serve as an important indicator of the pregnancy outcome during early pregnancy.