OBJECTIVE To compare the effectiveness of finasteride and flutamide in the treatment of hirsutism in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and with idiopathic hirsutism. DESIGN Randomized study. PATIENTS One hundred and ten hirsute patients were selected: 64 women with PCOS and 46 with idiopathic hirsutism. METHODS Patients were assigned randomly to receive 5mg finasteride once d...

BACKGROUND The polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common endocrine disorders in women. On the contrary, the prevalences of other disorders of androgen excess such as idiopathic hyperandrogenism and idiopathic hirsutism remain unknown. We aimed to obtain an unbiased estimate of the prevalence in premenopausal women of (i) signs of androgen excess and (ii) PCOS, idiopathic hypera...

OBJECTIVE Idiopathic hirsutism (IH) or polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are the most common causes of hirsutism which affects 5-10% of all women. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of flutamide plus diane 35 in the treatment of idiopathic hirsutism and polycystic ovary syndrome. MATERIALS AND METHODS 26 polycystic ovary syndrome and 24 idiopathic hirsutism patients were evalua...

CONTEXT Prevalence of Cushing's syndrome (CS) in patients presenting with hirsutism is not well known. OBJECTIVE Screening of CS in patients with hirsutism. SETTING Referral hospital. PATIENTS AND OTHER PARTICIPANTS This study was carried out on 105 patients who were admitted to the Endocrinology Department with the complaint of hirsutism. INTERVENTION All the patients were evaluated wi...

Hirsutism, the presence of terminal (coarse) hairs in females in a male-like pattern, affects between 5% and 10% of women. Of the sex steroids, androgens are the most important in determining the type and distribution of hairs over the human body. Under the influence of androgens hair follicles that are producing vellus-type hairs can be stimulated to begin producing terminal hairs (i.e., termi...

OBJECTIVE Hirsutism is the presence of excess terminal hairs in females in a male-like pattern. The most accepted hypothesis for the development of hirsutism is increased 5α-reductase activity in hair follicles of hirsute women. Finasteride partially blocks the conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone through inhibition of 5α-reductase in hair follicles. This study was designed to dete...