FREQUENCY VARIATION OF SPONTANEOUS OTOACOUSTIC EMISSIONS DURING A NATURALLY-OCCURRING MENSTRUAL-CYCLE, AMENORRHEA, AND ORAL CONTRACEPTION -A BRIEF REPORT

Objective: The frequencies of one subject's spontaneous otoacoustic em issions (SOAEs) were tracked intermittently for 295 days. Design: The first 40 days encompassed a normal menstrual cycle. During the next 18 6 days, the subject exhibited amenorrhea. For the last 69 days, she to ok oral contraceptives prescribed by her doctor to reestablish menstru al function.Results: Anovulation, as evidenced by amenorrhea or induce d by oral contraception, reduced the fluctuation of SOAE frequencies r elative to the naturally occurring menstrual cycle. Conclusions: Futur e research might fruitfully be aimed at monitoring SOAE frequencies in humans and animals to determine whether the fluctuations can provide a noninvasive measure of the functioning of the pituitary-gonadal axis .