[Hormonal status of women after hysterectomy compared with controls (author's transl)]

Plasma-FSH, -LH, -Estradiol-17beta, and -Progesterone were determined weekly in women aged between 28 and 43 years who had been hysterectomized 5-10 years before. The endocrine parameters were compared with those of women with a normal cycle and two groups of premenopausal women, the one showing a fixed hypergonadotropic state, the other slightly elevated but still cyclic fluctuations of FSH and normal LH values. After hysterectomy, normal ovulatory cycles were found in all women of up to 40 years, in 75% of those between 41 and 45 years and in 50% of those beyond 46 years. The average age of women with fluctuating or fixed hypergonadotropism was 2 years less in the hysterectomiced group. Thus, a certain acceleration of ovarian insufficiency caused by hysterectomy cannot be denied.