Anthropometric, clinical and biochemical comparison of the four polycystic ovarian syndrome phenotypes

Objectives: Polycystic ovarian syndrome [PCOS] phenotypes in different races and ethnicities present with various features. This study aimed to investigate the anthropometric, clinical and biochemical differences according to the four Rotterdam phenotypes of PCOS

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Design: A cross-sectional study was conducted

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Setting: Two private infertility clinics and a public endocrinology clinic in Rasht, Iran

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Subjects: One hundred and sixty one women with PCOS aged between 15 and 41 years from March 2010 to July 2012 were included. Polycystic ovarian syndrome was diagnosed by irregular menstruation [IM], polycystic ovary [PCO] and hyperandrogenism [HA]

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Intervention: Demographic data, and fertility features were collected and anthropometric, clinical and biochemical characteristics were measured

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Main outcome measures: There were significant differences in mean levels of 17-hydroxyprogesterone [P = 0.010], luteinizing hormone [P = 0.047], and ratio of luteinizing hormone / follicle stimulation hormone [P = 0.017] among the four phenotypes

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Results: Most of the subjects were categorized into the IM + PCO + HA phenotype [54%], followed by IM + HA [28%], IM + PCO [13%], and PCO + HA [5%]. Among the four phenotypes, there were no significant differences in terms of demographic characters, fertility features and anthropometric measurements [P > 0.05], but there were significant differences in the prevalence of hirsutism, alopecia and morphology of PCO [P < 0.05]

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Conclusion: Phenotypes of PCOS in women from Rasht are similar in most anthropometric, clinical and biochemical features