OBJECTIVES: To compare the performance of a new coaxial catheter system with an echo-dense tip (Cook Echo-Tip catheter) with a Wallace catheter during ultrasound-guided ET. DESIGN: Prospective, randomized study. SETTING:Private academically affiliated infertility center. PATIENT(S): Two hundred fifty-one patients undergoing IVF-ET. INTERVENTION(S): The patients underwent ultrasound-guided ET by a single physician with a standardized technique alternately using one of the two catheters. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Implantation rates, pregnancy rates, ease of transfer, visualization, and status of catheter tip. RESULT(S): The echo-dense tip of the Cook Echo-Tip catheter was consistently seen with ultrasound guidance, minimizing the need for catheter movement to identify the tip. Implantation rate (30% vs. 35%), clinical pregnancy rate (57% vs. 55%), and ongoing pregnancy rate (49% vs. 47%) were similar in both groups. CONCLUSION(S): The Cook Echo-Tip catheter with its echogenic tip simplifies ultrasound-guided ET, but pregnancy success rates are similar to those obtained when a Wallace catheter is used.
RCT Entities:
OBJECTIVES: To compare the performance of a new coaxial catheter system with an echo-dense tip (Cook Echo-Tip catheter) with a Wallace catheter during ultrasound-guided ET. DESIGN: Prospective, randomized study. SETTING: Private academically affiliated infertility center. PATIENT(S): Two hundred fifty-one patients undergoing IVF-ET. INTERVENTION(S): The patients underwent ultrasound-guided ET by a single physician with a standardized technique alternately using one of the two catheters. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Implantation rates, pregnancy rates, ease of transfer, visualization, and status of catheter tip. RESULT(S): The echo-dense tip of the Cook Echo-Tip catheter was consistently seen with ultrasound guidance, minimizing the need for catheter movement to identify the tip. Implantation rate (30% vs. 35%), clinical pregnancy rate (57% vs. 55%), and ongoing pregnancy rate (49% vs. 47%) were similar in both groups. CONCLUSION(S): The Cook Echo-Tip catheter with its echogenic tip simplifies ultrasound-guided ET, but pregnancy success rates are similar to those obtained when a Wallace catheter is used.