"Ultrasound rescue": a successful alternative form of oocyte recovery in patients with periovarian adhesions.

Oocyte recoveries for in vitro fertilization/embryo transfer were performed in 82 cycles in 73 women. The status of the ovaries was unknown. Laparoscopy was performed and oocytes from accessible follicles aspirated. The remaining follicles were aspirated ultrasonographically. The recovery rates for laparoscopy of accessible follicles and for ultrasonographic recovery from laparoscopically inaccessible follicles were identical. In 26 patients laparoscopy only was performed. One or more oocytes was obtained in 92% of patients. In 56 cycles when laparoscopy was followed by ultrasound, one or more oocytes were recovered in 95% of patients; in 12 of these patients, three of whom achieved pregnancy, the only oocytes were recovered by the ultrasonographic means after laparoscopy had failed. This method provided an alternative to screening laparoscopy and indicated that cycles of controlled hyperstimulation could be performed with a satisfactory expectation of oocyte recovery in women in whom the state of the pelvis was unknown.