[Intra-abdominal bleeding due to the rupture of the corpus luteum]

A total of 28 patients with extensive intraabdominal bleeding caused by the rupture of the corpus luteum in the period from 1961 to 1970 were analysed. In all of them the ovarian lesion was pathohistologically verified. Most of the patients (15) had never been pregnant. In all the patients the rupture occurred in the second half of the cycle. None of them developed any serious hyin 3 patients. A wrong preoperative diagnosis was established in all the patients Its intensity depended directly on the amount of the blood observed in the abdominal cavity. Still active bleeding was found in 8 patients. In 20 patients surgery was applied within 24 hours, in 5 within 48 hours, and in 3 it was delayed 4 days. Oophorectomy was performed in 10, resection of the ovary in 15, and adnexectomy in 3 patients. A wrong preoperative diagnosis was established in all the patients presented.