248 only a male factor to minimise the chance of including undiagnosed adenomyosis patients into the control group. Exclusion criteria: Patients who did not undergo ET, or only underwent frozen ET were excluded. Patients who explicitly objected to the usage of their medical data for research purposes were also excluded. IVF/ICSI Treatment protocol Included patients had to meet the local eligibility requirements of IVF/ICSI treatment protocol (see Appendix 10B). Patients first received pituitary downregulation with a recombinant GnRH agonist (Decapeptyl®, Ferring Gmbh, Germany), followed by ovarian stimulation. For ovarian stimulation either recombinant follicle stimulating hormone (Gonal-F®, Merck B.V. the Netherlands) or human menopausal gonadotrophin (Menopur® , Ferring B.V. the Netherlands, Fostimon®, Goodlife Fertility B.V. the Netherlands) was used. Fertilisation of the oocytes occurred the same day as oocyte retrieval, either by IVF or ICSI depending on the patients’ medical indication. Three days after oocyte retrieval, ET (single or double) was carried out after administration of a human gonadotrophin (HCG, Pregnyl®, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Canada) boost. According to the local and alpha scoring criteria (see appendix 3) selection of the best quality embryos for transfer was carried out. Luteal support was maintained with intravaginal progesterone (Uterogestan®, Besins Healthcare, the Netherlands) and was initiated after ET. Pelvic magnetic resonance imaging The standard MRI protocol for pelvic examinations at this hospital included the following sequences; T2-weighted turbo spin echo (T2-TSE) sequences in the sagittal, axial and coronal planes, as well as T1-weighted turbo spin echo (T1TSE) sequences in the axial plane. All scans were carried out with either a 1.5T or 3T MRI system (Phillips, Ingenia, the Netherlands). In order to minimise the effects of bowel motions/spasms and uterine peristalsis on image interpretation, all patients were administered an antispasmodic agent (1mL of 20mg/mL Buscopan®, Sanofi, Paris, France) intravenously or intramuscularly. The slice thickness used was generally 3 mm, with slight variations ranging from 3-5 mm. Minor changes existed in the protocol throughout the years, but had no significant impact on the diagnostic quality of the MRIs. In case of patients
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTk4NDMw