A quantitative study of endometrial development in the luteal phase: comparison between women with unexplained infertility and normal fertility

Summary. This study compared endometrial development in the luteal phase of women with unexplained infertility (n= 30) with that in women with normal fertility (n= 70) by the use of quantitative histological techniques (morphometric analysis) on endometrial specimens which were precisely timed from the luteinizing hormone surge. When overall endometrial development (histological dating) was considered, the proportion of women with unexplained infertility who had retarded endometrial development (20%) was found to be significantly higher than for women with normal fertility (3%) (P<0·01). When individual histological features were considered, women with unexplained infertility were found to have significant deviation from the normal range established from fertile women in only five of the 14 histological features measured. All of these five features related to the glandular but not to the stromal component of the endometrium; four of these five features are related to glandular secretory activity.