Prevention of Functional Ovarian Cysts, Contraception
Second Chapter
Dr. Álvaro Monterrosa Castro, MD
Functional ovarian cysts
Functional ovarian cysts occur very frequently in women who ovulate.
When combined oral contraceptives are administered and hormonal levels are stabilized, there is an inhibitory effect on ovarian activity, leading to a decrease in the incidence of the formation of functional ovarian cysts, including follicular, granulosa-lutein and thecalutein cysts.
This decreased risk is only while using the pill.
In the Oxford/FDA study, a 49% decrease in the incidence of follicular cysts and a 78% decrease in the incidence of persistent corpus luteum could be observed, compared to non-user patients.
In the 1980s, it was estimated that combined oral contraceptives prevented 35% of hospitalizations for functional ovarian cysts.
Monterrosa (4) cites studies by Caillouette and Koehler who suggested that multiphasic oral contraceptives could increase the risk of functional ovarian cysts, but the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) at the same time considered that the evidence was insufficient for such a relationship and in Contraposition presented fewer than 40 reports of functional cysts in women who received more than 56 million cycles of multiphasic preparations between 1982 and 1986.
(Read Also: Protection Against Epithelial Ovarian Cancer)
It should be kept in mind that very low dose and ultra low dose oral contraceptives:
They suppress follicular activity less consistently than preparations of other concentrations, therefore, the rate of prevention and solution of functional ovarian cysts should be decreased, compared to the results obtained with macrodose oral contraceptives.
In this regard, in a cohort study that involved 7,462 women, a 76% reduction in functional ovarian cysts was observed with the use of monophasic macrodose pills, which we should no longer use in daily practice.
With very low dose pills, a 48% reduction was observed and 9% with the use of triphasic pills (92).
However, it has been pointed out that the prevention of functional ovarian cysts is a benefit that very low-dose combined oral contraceptives do not offer (43).
Dr. Álvaro Monterrosa Castro, MD
Leave a Comment