The Evaluation of clinical signs and hormonal changes in women who complained of excessive body hair growth

Objective. To evaluate the clinical signs and hormonal changes in women who complained of increased hair growth. Material and methods. We studied 122 female residents of Lithuania aged 18–35 years who were referred to the Clinic of Endocrinology of Kaunas University of Medicine Hospital in 2002–2003 for excessive body hair growth. Increased body hair was graded using the Ferriman-Gallwey (F-G) method. Hirsutism was defined when the F-G score was ≥8. Results. Hirsutism was present in 74 (60.66 %) females and in 48 (39.34 %) no hirsutism was noted. The females with hirsutism complained more frequently of infertility (p0.05) comparing the mean values of testosterone, sex hormone-binding globulin, free androgen index and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate between two groups divided according to the subjective evaluation of excessive hair growth by females. Conclusions. Women are prone to overestimate the increased hair growth[...]