Colour‐Doppler ultrasound imaging as a laparoscopy substitute to count corpora lutea in superovulated sheep

Contents This study evaluated colour‐Doppler ultrasound imaging (UI) as a substitute for laparoscopy to count the corpora lutea (CL) in superovulated sheep. Twenty‐five Santa Ines ewes were superovulated three times at 21‐day intervals. Corpora lutea were counted by colour‐Doppler UI (CLDOPPLER) 6 days after each superovulation and confirmed by laparoscopy (CLLAP) 12 hr later. The mean number of CL was similar for both techniques (2.1 ± 2.5 vs. 2.1 ± 2.7 for CLDOPPLER and CLLAP, respectively) with a significant positive correlation (r = .94; r2=.89). Colour‐Doppler UI effectively evaluated the ovarian response in superovulated ewes and efficiently identified animals that did not respond to superovulation.