title: Ovarian volume correlates strongly with the number of nongrowing follicles in the human ovary.
abstract: A reliable indirect measure of ovarian reserve for the individual woman remains a challenge for reproductive specialists. Using descriptive statistics from a large-scale study of ovarian volumes, we have developed a normative model for healthy females for ages 25 through 85. For average values, this model has a strong and positive correlation (r = 0.89) with our recent model of nongrowing follicles (NGFs) in the human ovary for ages 25 through 51. When both models are log-adjusted, the correlation increases to r = 0.99, over the full range of ovarian volume. Furthermore we can deduce that an ovary of 3 cm(3) volume (or less) contains approximately 1000 NGF (or fewer). These strong correlations indicate that ovarian volume is a useful factor in the indirect estimation of human ovarian reserve for the individual woman.
authors.affiliation: School of Computer Science, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, Scotland, Kelsey KY16 9SX, UK.
authors.forename: Thomas W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Kelsey
authors.forename: W Hamish B
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Wallace