The average plasma testosterone concentration of women with either hirsutism or polycystic ovaries and hirsutism was higher (p < 0.01) than that of normal women although the ranges overlapped. Testosterone blood production rates averaged 830 +/- 120 SE and 1,180 +/- 310 SE mug per day in the two groups of hirsute women and 230 +/- 33 SE mug per day in normal women. The ranges did not overlap. T...

Hirsutism is recognized to cause profound distress in affected women, due to cosmetic and psychosexual implications. It was evaluated in the present study by methods found to be valid and reliable in psychosomatic research. Fifty women with hirsutism belonging to the spectrum of disorders from idiopathic hirsutism to polycystic ovary syndrome, after complete medical work-up, underwent the same ...

We compared the clinical value of information on free testosterone as measured with the Coat-A-Count (Diagnostic Products Corp.) radioimmunoassay kit involving a ligand analog with that of total testosterone, the free-androgen index, and free testosterone calculated from concentrations of testosterone, sex-hormone-binding globulin, and albumin, in hirsute women, pregnant women, oral-contracepti...

Should hirsute women be investigated? Most only need careful clinical evaluation. First, they need to be examined to determine whether they are hirsute or hypertrichotic, and for the degree of hair growth to assess the most appropriate form of treatment. Second, they need to be clinically evaluated for signs and symptoms of virilism to determine the extent of investigation needed. If virilism i...

Four distinct spore appendage types were detected in an electron microscope survey of 12 strains of Clostridium bifermentans. A smooth tubular appendage and a feather-like appendage are described in detail. In addition, hirsute tubular appendages and small pin-like appendages are depicted. Spores of four strains apparently lack appendages.