Pre-Pregnancy: Fertility testsQ.What is ovarian drilling?A.Ovarian drilling goes back to work done by two doctors called Stein and Leventhal in 1935. You may know that PCOs is sometimes called the Stein-Leventhal syndrome after their work. They described polycystic ovaries with thick walls and many small cysts and tried to remove the parts of the ovary that looked abnormal by taking a wedge-shaped piece from each ovary. This worked very well for severe cases but had the disadvantage of causing post-operative adhesions and, of course, part of the ovary was removed. More recently, a laser or a diathermy machine has been used to drill holes in the ovaries. This causes much less damage but seems to have the same beneficial effect on the hormones. However, if you ask me why it works, I’m afraid I haven't the faintest idea. It is assumed that somehow the part of the ovary which is producing male hormones is destroyed but the part producing female hormones is retained. The effect is temporary and nearly all cases return to their original state in anything from a few months to a few years. For this reason, fertility rates are best in the first few months after it has been performed. It can be repeated but more ovarian tissue is destroyed every time so this is probably not a good idea. |
