[Peritoneal fluid in female fertility and sterility (author's transl)].

The authors have analyzed samples of peritoneal liquid to determine how and in which measure the level of steroid hormones allows to distinguish between follicular rupture and ovulation, and follicular luteinization without rupture and lack of ovulation. Volume of peritoneal fluid is not influenced by endometriosis or by pelvic varicosities, but it increases during the luteal phase; peritoneal protein concentration is also at its highest during the luteal phase. Progestin and estradiol-17 beta are higher in peritoneal fluid than in serum; such high concentration is maintained for at least a week after ovulation. The concentration of such hormones is higher in women with ovulatory scars than in those with luteinized unruptured follicle syndrome. Such findings show that peritoneal liquid is a transudate of the hyperemic active ovary, and that the level of concentration of progestin and estradiol-17 beta can be used in the diagnosis of luteinized unruptured follicle syndrome.