Ovulation after unilateral oophorectomy, as determined by endometrial biopsy and basal body temperature.

It has been presumed that 1 remaining ovary after surgery continues all of the functions formerly exercised by both ovaries. Normal ovarian function is best recognized by basal body temperature (BBT) curves and s tudy of the endometrial patterns. In this study ovarian function was i nvestigated by these 2 methods. Subjects were 42 women unilaterally oop horectomized. All were under 30 years of age. Rectal temperatures were taken at the same time every morning. Any abnormalities such as colds or sleeplessness were noted. Endometrial suction biopsies with a Novak curette were done no later than 6 hours after the onset of menstruation for a minimum of 4 consecutive cycles. There were 168 biopsies on 41 subjects and 182 biopsies on a control group. In the oophorectomized group 164 of the 168 biopsies were normal. Minimal secretory activity was shown by 3 and none by 1 specimen. In 2 of the patients showing minimal secretory activity of the endometrium monophasic BBT curves were found. There were 3 other monophasic BBT curves in patients with normal endometrial patterns. In 18 others the BBT patterns varied from normal. In the control group 172 of 182 endometria were normal 2 showed no evidence of activity and 8 were of a mixed type. Nearly 1/3 of BBT curves in control and study groups failed to show a drop just previous to the rise. Only 14% of the removed ovaries had later shown adequate pathology to justify removal. Endometrial patterns of the control group and of the studied group were similar. The single remaining ovary was capable of normal endocrine response and of the function formerly shown by both.