Women's Health Medicine
Volume 3, Issue 3 , Pages 109-112, 1 May 2006

Disorders of ovulation

  • Susan Ingamells, BSc BM MRCOG

      Affiliations

    • Susan Ingamells BSc BM MRCOG PhD is a consultant in Reproductive Medicine at Wessex Fertility, Southampton, UK. She qualified at the University of Southampton and trained in obstetrics and gynaecology in Southampton and Salisbury. She is a sub-specialist in reproductive medicine.
    • ,
  • Iain T Cameron, BSc MA MD FRCOG MRANZCOG

      Affiliations

    • Iain T Cameron BSc MA MD FRCOG MRANZCOG is Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Southampton, UK. He qualified at the University of Edinburgh and trained in obstetrics, gynaecology and reproductive medicine in Edinburgh, Melbourne, Australia and Cambridge, UK.

Abstract 

A regular ovulatory menstrual cycle requires a functional and integrated feedback system involving the hypothalamus, the anterior pituitary and the ovary (Figure 1). In the normal menstrual cycle, periods occur at regular intervals of 21–35 days and bleeding lasts for up to 7 days. Disorders of ovulation usually cause menstrual disturbance and present with irregular periods (oligomenorrhoea) or absent periods (amenorrhoea). Irregular periods with anovulatory cycles are commonest under age 20 and over age 40. Ovulatory disorders account for one-quarter of couples presenting with infertility. Anovulation may be classified by the anatomical location of the defect in the hypothalamo-pituitary-ovarian axis (Figure 2). By focusing on ovarian, hypothalamic and endocrine defects, this article offers an overview of the disorders of ovulation.

Keywords:  ovulation disorder , hypothalamic disorder , pituitary disorder , endocrine disorder

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PII: S1744-1870(06)70177-9

doi:10.1383/wohm.2006.3.3.109

Women's Health Medicine
Volume 3, Issue 3 , Pages 109-112, 1 May 2006

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