[Corpus luteum defect. Analysis of 30 cases in clinical pregnancy]

Deficient corpus luteum (DCL) is an ovulatory dysfunction little defined but real. It is said that is frequency is 3 and 10% of sterile couples and 30 to 40% of habitual abortion. Is part of the group of ovulatory aberrations together with in situ luteinization and syndrome of not broken luteinized folicle. The diagnosis is based in endometrial morphology and progesterone determination. The objective of this work is to analyze 30 cases of DCL that achieved pregnancy. The diagnosis was done based on low determination of progesterone in serum, biopsy of irregular or indysphase endometrium and all the factors, remaining normal of esterility. Average age of patients was 36 years and for sterility 3.1. Treatment consisted in clomiphen cytrate (CC) administration 100 mg daily of hCG in 21 cases, CC only in eight cases and associated to bromocriptine in one case (concomitant hyper-prolactinemia); 26 pregnancies went to term, seven of them with support of exogenous progesterone the first weeks. There were three abortions and an ectopic one. It is concluded that with a complete study of sterility that only shows low seric progesterone and/or endometrium in dysphase or irregular, the diagnosis of DCL is probable and should be treated first with CC plus hCG. The evolution of pregnancies is normal and according to these results is little acceptable the use of progesterone as a support in pregnancy.