Assistant Professor's IVF Study Highlighted by Prestigious Medical Journal

Professors and lecturers from the University of Toronto's Department of ObGyn are frequently highlighted in medical journals, books and presentations. In total, this department's dedicated faculty have been a part of over 2,000 publications in over seven years, that is second only to Harvard University in the Web of Science Documents world rankings! Some of these studies and documents have been featured in journals from around the world, however it is one Assistant Professor who was recently featured as Editor's Choice in the prestigious Human Reproduction journal.

Editor-in-Chief of the journal Professor Hans Evers chose U of T's own Dr. Kimberly Liu's study on endometrial thickness for IVF treatments, a study that aims to help patients and physicians when faced with thin endometrium or tissue in the uterus.

Professor Evers detailed the study, pointing out that the impact of thin endometrium has been a longstanding topic of debate in the IVF field. 

"Kimberly Liu et al., from Toronto, Canada, now have reviewed over 40,000 fresh and frozen IVF cycles," said Professor Evers. "They show that live birth rates decreased and pregnancy loss rates increased with each millimeter decline of endometrial thickness below 8 mm in fresh transfer cycles. In frozen transfer cycles, live birth rates decreased below 7mm, but no significant difference in pregnancy loss rates was found. The likelihood of achieving an endometrial thickness over 8 mm decreased with age. Yet, live birth rates remained fair (15-21%) in patients with an endometrial thickness of 5-6 mm in fresh and 4-6 mm in frozen cycles. Data were ‘suppressed and not available’ for 49 embryo transfers in women with an endometrium below 4 mm."

Dr. Liu is proud of the study she and her team conducted, as this is a major step forward in the study of IVF and women with thin endometrium.

"An adequate endometrial thickness is essential for successful implantation and pregnancy," said Dr. Liu. "This study is the largest study of IVF outcomes in patients with an endometrial thickness under 8 millimetres and used data from the Canadian ART database of patients undergoing IVF from 2012 to 2015. In total, 12% of fresh IVF cycles and 14% of frozen IVF cycles occurred with an endometrial thickness under 8mm. Although live birth rates decreased with each millimetre decline, outcomes were still reasonable in patients even with endometrial thickness of 5mm (18-21%). This study can provide reassurance for patients and physicians when faced with treatment cycles with thin endometrium."

Click here to read more about Dr. Liu's study.

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