Implications of ultrasonically diagnosed polycystic ovaries. I. Correlations with basal hormonal profiles

'To whom correspondence should be addressed The incidence of ultrasonically diagnosed polycystk ovaries (PCO) was studied in 389 Arab patients with different types of menstrual dysfunction and 100 normal women with regular menstruation. Two-hundred-and-forty-six patients (63.2%) were found to have PCO but only 206 (53.0%) were confirmed as cases of polycystic ovarian disease (PCOD) on endocrine grounds. Polycystic ovaries were diagnosed in 50 % of patients with hyperprolactinaemia, 36.4 % with hypothyroidism, 23.7 % with hypothalamic dysfunction, 100 % with adrenal 21-hydroxylase deficiency and in 16.0 % of normal women. More women with PCOD presented with oligomenorrhoea or dysfunctional uterine bleeding (77.7%) and hirsutism (72.3%) but obesity had no discriminating value between the groups with different diagnoses. Ultrasonic diagnosis of PCO should be supplemented with an endocrine biochemical assess-ment to prevent overdiagnosis of PCOD and to exclude other endocrine dysfunctions. Key words: polycystic ovaries/polycystic ovarian disease/endo-crinopathy/menstrual dysfunction/hirsutis