 | THE YOUNG WOMAN AT THE RISE OF THE 21st CENTURY GYNECOLOGICAL AND REPRODUCTIVE ISSUES IN HEALTH AND DISEASE
Copyright © 2000 by the New York Academy of Sciences
description
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 900:393-402 (2000)
© 2000 New York Academy of Sciences
Premature Ovarian Failure Is Not Premature Menopause
SOPHIA N. KALANTARIDOU AND
LAWRENCE M. NELSONa
Section on Women's Health Research, Developmental Endocrinology Branch, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA
aAddress for correspondence: National Institutes of Health, Building 10, Room 10N262, 10 Center Drive MSC 1862, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-1862, USA. Phone: + 301-496-4686; fax: + 301-402-0574.
Lawrence.Nelson{at}nih.gov
Normal menopause occurs at an average age of 50 and results from ovarian follicle depletion. Normal menopause is an irreversible condition, whereas premature ovarian failure is characterized by intermittent ovarian function in half of these young women. These young women produce estrogen intermittently and sometimes even ovulate despite the presence of high gonadotropin levels. Indeed, pregnancy has occurred after a diagnosis of premature ovarian failure. On pelvic ultrasound examination, follicles were equally likely to be detected in patients more than 6 years after a diagnosis of premature ovarian failure as in patients less than 6 years after the diagnosis. Thus, the probability of detecting a follicle appears to remain stable during the normal reproductive lifespan of these young women. Indeed, pregnancy was reported in a 44-year-old woman 16 years after a diagnosis of premature ovarian failure. No treatment to restore fertility in patients with premature ovarian failure has proved to be safe and effective in prospective controlled studies. Theoretically, these unproved therapies might even prevent one of these spontaneous pregnancies from occurring.
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