Clinical and endocrine features of ultrasound diagnosed polycystic ovary patients: the correlation between ovarian volume and androgen activity.

One hundred and twenty five patients with polycystic ovaries on ultrasonography and 17 controls with normal ovaries on ultrasound and regular ovulary cycles underwent clinical and endocrine evaluation. Of 125 ultrasound-diagnosed polycystic ovary patients (PCO) 49.6% complained about hirsutism, 55.2% had menstrual disturbances (46.4% oligomenorrhea, 8.8% amenorrhea), 23.2% had normal but irregular cycles and 50.4% had infertility. PCO patients had significantly higher mean serum LH, testosterone, androstenedione and DHEAS levels and higher mean ovarian volume compared with the control group. Sixty seven percent of PCO patients had enlarged ovaries and significantly higher mean serum LH, testosterone, androstenedione and DHEAS levels, compared with the PCO patients who had ovarian volume within normal range. There was a significant positive correlation between ovarian volume and serum LH, testosterone, androstenedione, DHEAS levels. Hirsutism, oligomenorrhea, irregular cycles were equally present in patients with normal ovarian volume and enlarged ovaries. These results illustrate the importance of ovarian volume measurement as an indicator of androgen production in PCO patients.