Acta Vet. Brno 2019, 88: 19-23

https://doi.org/10.2754/avb201988010019

Early pregnancy diagnosis by semiquantitative evaluation of luteal vascularity using power Doppler ultrasonography in sheep

Gamze Evkuran Dal1, Sinem Ozlem Enginler1, Kerem Baykal2, Ahmet Sabuncu1

1Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Istanbul, Turkey
2Institute of Graduate Education, Istanbul, Turkey

Received November 28, 2018
Accepted February 12, 2019

The aim of the study was to measure the area of coloured pixels captured in power Doppler examination of corpus luteum (CL) by a computer-assisted image analysis software and to evaluate the efficiency of the semiquantitative assessment of CL in early pregnancy diagnosis in sheep. Assessment of luteal vascularity was carried out on 30 Kivircik ewes with power Doppler ultrasonography daily from Day 12 to Day 19 post breeding. The mean area of coloured pixels of CL with pregnancy was found significantly higher than the area of coloured pixels of CL undergoing luteolysis (0.38 ± 0.012 mm2 and 0.31 ± 0.017 mm2, respectively, P < 0.001). Assessment of day-based examination showed a significant difference between the area of coloured pixels of CL with continuing pregnancy and luteolysis on Day 17 (P < 0.05), which was followed by Days 18 and 19 (P < 0.001). It is concluded that pregnancy diagnosis can be done accurately by semiquantitative assessment of luteal vascularization as early as 17 days post breeding in ewes. According to the authors’ knowledge, this is the first report on the efficacy of semiquantitative assessment of ovine CL in early pregnancy diagnosis.

Funding

The authors would like to express their gratitude to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ozge Turna and Prof. Dr. Omur Kocak for their support in software analysis and statistical evaluation, respectively.

References

17 live references