[Brain infarctions during treatment with ovulation inhibitors (author's transl)]

392 cases of cerebrovascular disturbances in women while taking oral contraceptives are reported since 1962. There has been a remarkable change of the distribution of age among these women. Till 1970 were mostly women involved between the age of 30 and 34 years. Today this type of distribution is no more to be seen because of the growing number of reports about complications in other age-groups. Complications were till 1970 mostly reported in the period from ten days till six months after taking oral contraceptives. The publications of the last three years are showing that many women are involved, who had taken oral contraceptives more than two years. New publications and our own results are showing no changes of the clinical syndromes and of the prognosis. Our investigation shows no decrease in the number of young women suffering of thromboembolic cerebral disorders of unknown aetiology in the last years. In this group is the percentage of the women, which had taken ovulation inhibitors, no reduced. The conception, that there is a connection between oral contraceptives and cerebrovascular occlusions seems more possible as before. Especially attention in prescription of oral contraceptives should be given to the fact of a known predisposition. The rareness of these complications leads to the conclusion that one or more predisponating factors of a nature not yet known have to be existent.