Antral follicle counts obtained by transvaginal ultrasound and histological examination are correlated with ovarian non-growing follicle number

Abstract

The ovarian antral follicle count (AFC), as determined by transvaginal ultrasound examination, declines with increasing age. Furthermore, the AFC has been correlated with stimulation quality in IVF. While these observations suggest that the AFC is correlated with the ovarian primordial follicle pool, this assumption has never been proven with histological techniques. This study investigated the relationship between the ovarian AFC as obtained by both transvaginal ultrasound and direct histological examination with the number of ovarian non-growing follicles.