Background: A number of patients who have undergone assisted reproductive technology (ART) have only one ovary.
Purpose: This article reviews the clinical implications of the absence of an ovary on the reproductive potential and the outcome in ART cycle.
Data sources: MEDLINE, Pubmed, the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register, and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews from the 1980s through April 2010.
Study selection: Randomized, controlled trials; systematic reviews of trials; and observational studies; all restricted to English-language articles.
Data synthesis: This review includes 58 articles. Women with a single ovary did not, in general, respond as well to ovulation induction treatment than women with two ovaries in ART cycles. It appears however, that once women with a single ovary achieve the stage of embryo transfer, they can be reassured that their chances of having a child are the same as women with two ovaries. Whether the right or left ovary responds better to superovulation is a question which remains unanswered in the literature.
Limitations: The authors could not address all management questions, and excluded non-English-language literature.