The diagnosis of luteal phase defect using different diagnostic criteria

We evaluated the real incidence of the luteal phase defect (LPD) syndrome in 149 women who previously had been diagnosed by four independent researchers as having it, by the use of a combination of 3 criteria: basal body temperature (BBt), the histological appearance of the endometrium (EB) and the serum level of progesterone (P). The women had been divided according to etiological factors of the LPD syndrome into 4 groups (A, B, C and D). When the 3 criteria were used simultaneously (category II), the incidence of LPD among the patients was 41%; when P and EB (category III) and P and BBt (category V) criteria were used, the incidence was the same in each case (45%). On the contrary, with the use of BBt and EB (category IV) criteria the incidence was 65%. Furthermore, when the above-mentioned categories were used in each of the groups separately, the smallest deviation between the initial and final diagnosis of LPD was found in groups A and B, whereas the largest deviation was found in groups C and D. We conclude that the highest incidence of patients who remained with the diagnosis of LPD was observed after utilization of category IV (EB and BBt) criteria and we recommend that, in cases where LPD is diagnosed based on P levels, only higher serum levels be accepted as indicative of the syndrome.