Abstract
The role of oophorectomy in the development of osteoporosis was assessed retrospectively in 258 women who had been hysterectomized premenopausally for non-malignant disease. Bone density was assessed using the radiographic density of the third metacarpal. Oophorectomy before the age of 45 years was found to be associated with a significantly increased prevalence of osteoporosis within three to six years of operation. The bone density of women oophorectomized after the age of 45 years was indistinguishable three to six years after operation from that found in healthy women with intact ovaries. These findings confirm the major part played by loss of ovarian function in the development of postmenopausal osteoporosis.