Clinical, biochemical and ultrasonographic characteristics of Scandinavian women with PCOS

Abstract

Background. The aim was to investigate the clinical, biochemical and ultrasonographic characteristics of Scandinavian women with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), and to see whether there were any differences between eumenorrhoic and oligoamenorrhoic women. Methods. Eighty women aged between 18 and 40 years with PCOS were investigated in a prospective study. The inclusion criteria were polycystic ovaries (PCO), body mass index (BMI) >25 kg/m 2 and at least one of the following: testosterone >2.5 nmol/L, sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) <30 nmol/L, fasting C-peptide >1.0 nmol/L, oligoamenorrhea or hirsutism. Results. Eumenorrhoic and oligoamenorrhoic women with PCOS did not differ in age, age at menarche, blood pressure, BMI, free testosterone index (FTI), insulin C-peptide or fasting glucose. A thicker endometrium and a smaller ovarian volume were found in eumenorrhoic compared to oligoamenorrhoic patients. There was linear association between BMI and the number of diagnostic criteria met. Conclusion. BMI was associated with the severity of the PCOS. There were no differences in basic clinical and biochemical parameters between eumenorrhoic and oligoamenorrhoic patients with PCOS.Abbreviations: PCO: polycystic ovary; PCOS: polycystic ovarian syndrome; SHBG: sex hormone binding globulin; FTI: free testosterone index; BMI: body mass index.

Efficacy of metformin in obese and non-obese women with polycystic ovary syndrome: a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled cross-over trial

“…While there is no difference between non-obese and obese patients in some studies (Dunaif et al, 1989), others have not been able to demonstrate insulin resistance in lean PCOS women (Dale et al, 1992;Ovesen et al, 1993;Vrbikova et al, 2004). Obesity clearly aggravates the symptoms of PCOS (Dunaif et al, 1989;Cresswell et al, 2003;Vanky et al, 2004), and weight loss is central in the treatment. Weight loss has been shown to enhance ovulation frequency and improve menstrual cyclicity and endocrine profile (Kiddy et al, 1992;Crosignani et al, 2003;Tang et al, 2006).…”

“…The severity of the symptoms is weight dependent (Vanky et al, 2004). Women with PCOS show features of the metabolic syndrome (Holte et al, 1998;Legro et al, 1999;Glueck et al, 2003), a constellation of metabolic abnormalities associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease.…”

Clinical, endocrine and ultrasonographic features of polycystic ovary syndrome in Thai women

“…Although PCOS is a common condition, its prevalence and clinical manifestations are different between ethnic and racial groups 9 . The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence of PCOS in Thai women, who attended the outpatient gynecologic and infertility clinic at a tertiary care center, and to study the clinical and hormonal features and ovarian ultrasound appearance in this group of patients.…”

Validity of Serum Testosterone, Free Androgen Index, and Calculated Free Testosterone in Women with Suspected Hyperandrogenism

“…Serum SHBG alone showed a significant difference only in group 2 and group 4 (each laboratory parameter was selected at the recommended cutoff; <30 nmol/L for hyperandrogenism SHBG and >5 for FAI. 12,13 For testosterone, a cut-off value of >3.0 nmol/L was followed as being implemented in Clinical Biochemistry Laboratory at Royal Hospital. For CFT, there was no clear availability of recommended cut-off in the literature, it was also not provided by the manufacturer; however, a cut-off value of >32 pmol/L was used as it is the cut-off followed in other laboratories.…”

“…same unit), whereas CFT was calculated according to Vermeulen et al equation. 12 The SSPS statistic software was used to calculate the mean±standard deviation (SD) and t-test was used to compare the differences in the means of each parameter (measured or calculated) between the different groups. Statistical significance was assigned at p<0.05.…”