Ovarian reserve and reproductive age

Ovarian reserve is an estimate of the primordial follicle pool in the ovaries and is indicative of the reproductive age of a woman. This estimate helps in assessing a woman's reproductive potential, in predicting her possible response in assisted conception, and in screening women for "early ovarian ageing" as a possible cause for subfertility. Over the years, several methods have been used for its determination. These include biochemical parameters such as estradiol, FSH/LH levels and ratio, inhibin-B and anti-mullerian hormone levels, sonographic measurement of ovarian volume, antral follicle count and follicular volume, dynamic tests of ovarian function, and ovarian biopsy. In this paper these methods are briefly described, and their advantages and disadvantantages are discussed with a view to finding accurate, available and easily reproducible methods for assessing ovarian reserve. This article is a review of several articles obtained from the Internet, www.pubmed.com, Pakistan scientific and technological information Centre (PASTIC) and several authors via e-mail.