Luteal phase insufficiency in patients treated with clomiphene

The results of treatment with clomiphene in 27 anovulatory women during 96 cycles are presented. Fifty-seven of the 96 cycles showed diphasic temperature curves but in only 20 cycles did the luteal phase last longer than 12 days. The incidence of more or less certain ovulations was therefore only 30 per cent. No pregnancies occurred in the 18 patients who were treated for infertility. It seems that the usual criteria for detecting ovulation are less reliable in patients treated with clomiphene and that the discrepancy between ovulation and pregnancy rates can be explained in part by the occurrence of pseudoovulation resulting from theca-luteinization of an unruptured follicle.