Etiologic Factors and Clinical Characteristics of Turkish Adolescent Girls Diagnosed with Hirsutism

Aim: Hirsutism is the male type terminal hair growth in androgen sensitive body areas of the female gender. There is a limited number of studies that involves only hirsutic adolescents. In this study, clinical and laboratory characteristics of hirsutism in Turkish adolescents were evaluated. Material and Method: 174 hirsutic adolescent girls were assessed for menarche age, menstruation cycle, family history, body mass index z-scores, modified Ferriman-Gallwey (mFG) scores, hair development and distributions and laboratory findings. Results: Mean age was 15.4±1.5 years. The cases were identified as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) 57.4%, idiopathic hirsutism (IH) 29.3% and adrenal hirsutism (AH) 13.2%. The mean ages, hair development onset and menarche ages of the groups were similar. Mild, moderate and severe hirsutism were determined in 132, 39 and 3 cases respectively. Maximum hair development was observed at the thigh, upper arm and lower back areas; minimum hair development was observed in the upper abdomen, upper back and chest areas., The menstrual irregularity, obesity and LH/FSH ratio were significantly higher while SHBG was significantly lower in the PCOS.Discussion: PCOS is the most frequent reason for adolescent hirsutism with menstrual irregularity, mild hair growth and obesity. Regular menstruation suggests firstly idiopathic hirsutism. mFG score values of the thigh, upper arm and lower back areas may provide a preunderstanding for hirsutism. Upper lip area%u2019s where frequent epilation is applied may be deceptive concerning scoring