Purvis L. Martin

Detection of Ovulation by the Basal Temperature Curve with Correlating Endometrial Studies

99 women between the ages of 16-45 years recorded basal body temperatures (BBTs) in 181 menstrual cycles and 56 women received endometrial biopsies in order to determine if a biphasic BBT was indicative of ovulation. There were 164 cycles which were definitely biphasic in character. 47 patients with biphasic curves had endometrial biopsies which corresponded with ovulation. There were 17 monophasic BBT charts. 8 of these patients had endometrial biopsies. The results corresponded to a cycle in which ovulation was absent. A statistical analysis of the recorded temperatures revealed a statistically significant difference between the mean temperatures of the pre- and postmenstrual phases of the biphasic cycles and insignificant differences between the mean temperatures of the 2 parts of the monophasic cycle. The BBT offers a possible method of differentiation between ovulatory and anovulatory cycles.