Reproductive biomedicine online
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Useful research and diagnostic criteria for PCOS arose from a conference in 1990, whereby PCOS could be defined by: (i) clinical and/or biochemical hyperandrogenism, (ii) chronic anovulation, and (iii) exclusion of related disorders. The presence of "polycystic ovaries" was not included in this definition, which created significant concern since many women with PCOS have polycystic ovaries on ultrasound, and conversely women with this ovarian morphology have a higher prevalence of androgen excess and insulin resistance. ⋯ It remains to be demonstrated whether these phenotypes actually represent patients with PCOS. Nonetheless, the trend towards the use of uniform diagnostic criteria in studies of PCOS will increase the comparability and potentially the value of published research.