Regular menstrual cycles and premenstrual molimina as indicators of ovulation
Magyar, D.M.; Boyers, S.P.; Marshall, J.R.; Abraham, G.E.
Obstetrics and Gynecology 53(4): 411-414
1979
ISSN/ISBN: 0029-7844 PMID: 571587 Document Number: 140455
The assumption that women with regular menstrual cycles and premenstrual symptoms are ovulatory was tested. Women (40) aged 20-40 yr were selected as probably ovulatory on the basis of their recent histories of regular menstrual cycles consistently accompanied by premenstrual molimina. Each subject recorded menses and basal body temperature (BBT) for 1-3 consecutive mentstrual cycles during which luteal phase serum progesterone (P) contrations were determined by radioimmunoassay. All subjects were rated ovulatory or anovulatory by each of several espoused P criteria, which confirmed 39/40 subjects (98%) to be ovulatory by a 3 ng/ml criterion, 38/40 subjects (95%) by a 5 ng/ml criterion and 36/40 (90%) by a 15 ng/ml criterion. P measurements confirmed the clinical impression of ovulation in 90-98% of subjects depending on which P criterion was selected. Basal body temperatures correlated well with P measurements in that 61/66 cycles (92%) displayed a biphasic BBT pattern, 2/66 cycles (3%) displayed a monophasic BBT pattern and 3/66 cycles (5%) were uninterpretable. Only 1 subject was not ovulatory in either of 2 consecutive cycles by even the most liberal P criterion, and both cycles were abnormally long and would have been suspected of being anovulatory on clinical grounds. Patients presenting with a history of regular menstrual cycles accompanied by premenstrual molimina are identifiable as ovulatory without the necessity of measuring luteal phase serum P concentrations.