Spontaneous anovulation causing disappearance of cyclical symptoms in women with the premenstrual syndrome

In the premenstrual syndrome the negative symptoms appear during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. Ovulation and the formation of a corpus luteum seem to be of great importance in precipitating the syndrome. In a large group of women with premenstrual syndrome investigated daily with symptom ratings and weekly plasma estradiol and progesterone assays, 8 were found to have one ovulatory and one spontaneously occurring anovulatory menstrual cycle. In both these cycles, the post- and premenstrual phases were compared by testing for recurrence of symptoms. All patients showed a highly significant cyclical worsening of negative premenstrual symptoms during the ovulatory cycles, whereas in the anovulatory cycles the cyclical symptoms disappeared, resulting in relief of the premenstrual syndrome. These results support earlier hypotheses, suggesting that the premenstrual syndrome appears as a result of provoking factors produced by the corpus luteum. This view is in line with earlier therapeutic findings showing that induced anovulation can relieve the premenstrual syndrome.