[Oocytes morphology of tertiary follicles in women with normal and disturbed ovarian function (author's transl)]

During gynecological operations 2 to 20 mm tertiary ovarian follicles were punctured in 65 women aged from 20 to 50 years. 205 eggcells were obtained. Histological examination of these eggcells revealed the following results: 1. Oocytes of small tertiary follicles are not increasing in size during maturation of the follicle. The average diameter of the ooplasma is 109 mu. The most impressive morphological criterium of imminent ovulation in oocytes from Graafian follicles is a loose cloud of granulosa cells. 2. The puncture of all visible tertiary follicles of both ovaries revealed an average of 6 eggcells in younger women (28 to 40 years), but only 3 eggcells in older women (41 to 53 years). In both groups signs of degeneration were observed in one out of 3 eggcells. In cases of anovulatory cycles and Stein-Leventhal-Syndrom, up to 16 eggcells could be obtained from both ovaries, most of them with signs of degeneration. 3. No differences in the number of eggcells and the number of degenerated oocytes could be found during the different phases of the menstrual cycle. The degeneration of the oocytes can begin at any phase of the cycle. Even in the follicles of the preovulatory phase measuring more then 1 cm in diameter eggcells with signs of degeneration could be found.