Oestrogen and androgen states in oligo‐amenorrhoeic women with polycystic ovaries

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Summary. Oestrogen and androgen states have been studied in relation to ovarian morphology defined by ultrasonography in 65 women with oligo‐amenorrhoea. Of the 48 women with polycystic ovaries (PCO), 44 (92%) had a withdrawal bleed following progestogen challenge (indicating oestrogenization) compared with just three (18%) of the 17 with non‐PCO (P < 0.001). Median serum concentrations of oestradiol and oestrone were statistically significantly higher in the PCO group but the ranges overlapped widely. Of the four women with PCO but oestrogen deficiency, two were hirsute and had evidence of a severe form of the disorder. The other two were not hirsute and appeared to have hypo‐thalamic dysfunction associated with weight loss overriding the disorder due to pre‐existing PCO. Compared with the non‐PCO group, the PCO subgroup without hirsutism (n = 31) had statistically significantly higher median values of LH, testosterone, androstendione, and dehydro‐epiandrosterone sulphate concentrations, and free androgen index. Concentrations of androgen, but not LH, were significantly higher still in the PCO subgroup with hirsutism (n = 17).