Disorders
Disorders of ovulation are classified as menstrual disorders, and include oligoovulation and anovulation:
- Oligoovulation is infrequent or irregular ovulation (usually defined as cycles of ≥36 days or <8 cycles a year)
- Anovulation is absence of ovulation when it would be normally expected (in a post-menarchal, premenopausal woman). Anovulation usually manifests itself as irregularity of menstrual periods, that is, unpredictable variability of intervals, duration, or bleeding. Anovulation can also cause cessation of periods (secondary amenorrhea) or excessive bleeding (dysfunctional uterine bleeding).
The World Health Organization (WHO) has developed the following classification of ovulatory disorders:
- WHO group I: Hypothalamic–pituitary-gonadal axis failure
- WHO group II: Hypothalamic–pituitary-gonadal axis dysfunction. WHO group II is the most common cause of ovulatory disorders, and the most common causative member is polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).
- WHO group III: Ovarian failure
- WHO group IV: Hyperprolactinemia
Read more about this topic: Ovulation
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