Elsevier

Fertility and Sterility

Volume 78, Issue 2, August 2002, Pages 360-370
Fertility and Sterility

Menopause
Three-dimensional microanatomical dynamics of the ovary in postreproductive aged women

Preliminary results presented at the IV European Congress on Menopause, Vienna, Austria, October 8–12, 1997, and the 17th Annual Meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology/American Society for Reproductive Medicine Joint Pre-Congress Course, Lausanne, Switzerland, July 1–4, 2001.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0015-0282(02)03216-8Get rights and content
Under an Elsevier user license
open archive

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the microanatomical dynamics of the ovary during postreproductive life.

Design: Retrospective, observational research study.

Setting: Institutional (university).

Patient(s): Eleven (43- to 72-year-old) women in perimenopause, menopause, or postmenopause.

Intervention(s): Biopsies of ovaries obtained from patients undergoing gynecologic surgery or diagnostic procedures.

Main Outcome Measure(s): Analysis of the 3-dimensional microanatomy of the ovary by transmission and high-resolution scanning electron microscopy.

Result(s): The surface epithelium gets gradually flatter and is always present, even in advanced age. The surface appears smoother because of a smaller number of papillae and crypts as well as a decreased number and shortening of microvilli on surface epithelial cells. Signs of atrophy and fibrosis are evident. Primordial follicles are usually absent in postmenopause, whereas corpora atretica, hemorrhagica, and albicantia, scar tissue, and simple follicular cysts are common after menopause. Apoptotic and necrotic cells appear frequently within the surface epithelium. Major common features are a marked reduction in number and caliber of blood vessels with thickening of the vascular walls and changes in endothelial cells.

Conclusion(s): Scanning electron microscopy studies are a useful complement to ordinary gynecologic diagnostic methods. Variations among patients of the same age range or functional status should be considered.

Keywords

Aging
ovary
menopause
scanning electron microscopy
transmission electron microscopy
ultrastructure
ovarian vessels
functional cysts
fibrotic changes

Cited by (0)

Supported by “Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca” (1999–2000).