evaluation of pulmonary function tests in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome

Introduction: Recently a relation between female sex hormones and severity of asthma symptoms has been proposed. As a common endocrine dysfunction, polycystic ovary syndrome [PCOS] could significantly influence the level of sex hormones in PCOS patients. Regarding the possible role of sex hormones in airway physiology, the present study was conducted to survey the effects of PCOS on pulmonary function test parameters

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Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study 30 recently diagnosed patients with PCOS without history of pulmonary disease were enrolled and 20 healthy women were considered as the control group according to their age, weight, and height. The patients and the controls underwent body plethysmography to measure pulmonary function tests

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Results: The mean age of the patients and the controls were 29.43 +/- 7.8 and 30.0 +/- 7.6 years respectively. There were no statistically significant differences in all pulmonary function test parameters between the patients and the controls [p>0.05]. After dividing the patients into 2 groups based on their body mass index [BMI], BMI<25 and BMI>/=25, we found statistically significant differences only in expiratory reserve volume [ERV] and thoracic gas volume [p=0.01 and p=0.01, respectively].Moreover there was statistically moderate inverse correlation between BMI and ERV [r=-0.5, p=0.03]

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Conclusion: Our results showed that pulmonary function test parameters are not different in PCOS patients comparing to healthy women. Only the deleterious effects of high BMI on pulmonary function can be occurred in these patients