corpus luteum cyst (rupture/haemorrhage)
Last reviewed 01/2018
The corpus luteum is formed when the follicle releases the ovum at ovulation, when there is always some bleeding. If the bleeding is excessive, a corpus luteum cyst develops.
Corpus luteum cysts may be tender on palpation and cause pain in one or other iliac fossa. Haemorrhage into a corpus luteum cyst or rupture of a cyst is a cause of acute abdomen and can be difficult to distinguish from such diagnoses as torsion.
See under ovarian cysts and tumours, non-neoplastic functional cyst types.