The Prevalence and Epidemiology of Luteal-Phase Deficiency in Normal and Infertile Women

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Abstract
The difficulty in determining the prevalence and epidemiology of LPI lies in the ambiguity of diagnosis. To define the abnormal, a complete delineation of normal is first required; this has been disregarded for most diagnostic criteria of this disorder. Once normal is defined, a link between the abnormal state and subfertility is required to demonstrate clinical relevance; this has yet to be shown with any form of LPI criteria. Despite this, some pieces of the puzzle are apparent. In the form of a short luteal phase LPI is present in roughly 5% of ovulatory cycles. The rate also tends to increase at the extremes of reproductive age. The rate of hormonal- or biopsy-diagnosed LPI appears to be in approximately the same range, although the criteria for diagnosis are much more poorly defined, and the rate of "abnormal" is often built into the definition. Finally, ongoing development of more precise and accurate tools for diagnosis promises to produce more and better data in the future to furnish the clinician with greater insight into the rate and overall importance of LPI as a cause of infertility.

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