ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: To study ovarian morphology by ultrasound in women with or without polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and to establish cut-off values of these parameters in Indian women with PCOS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 119 consecutive women diagnosed PCOS and 77 apparently healthy women were enrolled. Transabdominal ultrasound examination was carried out to assess ovarian volume, stromal echogenecity, follicle number and size. Cut-off values of the above ovarian parameters with sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive values (NPV) were calculated. RESULTS: Sensitivity of 79.49% and specificity of 90.67% was achieved with a cut-off of 8 mL as ovarian volume. A cut-off value of 9 follicles to distinguish between PCOS and control women yielded a sensitivity of 82.35% and specificity of 92.0% while as a follicular size of 5 mm yielded sensitivity and specificity of 74.67% and 78.15% respectively. With all the three parameters sensitivity was 87.39% and specificity 87.84% with 92.04% PPV and 81.25% NPV. CONCLUSION: Using two or three sonographic criteria in combination improves sensitivity and helps diagnose additional patients with PCOS. Our results are at variance with the established cut-off values highlighting the fact that American Society for Reproductive Medicine consensus cut-off values are not reproducible in Indian context.
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Normal pregnancy results in a number of important physiological and hormonal changes that alter thyroid function. In pregnancy, the thyroid gland being subjected to physiological stress undergoes several adaptations to maintain sufficient output of thyroid hormones for both mother and fetus. Consequently, pregnant women have been found to be particularly vulnerable to iodine deficiency disorders (IDD), and compromised iodine status during pregnancy has been found to affect the thyroid function and cognition in the neonates. OBJECTIVES: Two decades after successful universal salt iodization (USI) in the country, there is scarce data on the iodine status of the pregnant women and their neonates. This is more relevant in areas like Kashmir valley part of sub-Himalayan belt, an endemic region for IDD in the past. The objective was to estimate Urinary Iodine status in pregnant women, the most vulnerable population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We studied thyroid function [free T3 (FT3), T3, free T4 (FT4), T4, thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH)] and urinary iodine excretion (UIE) in the 1(st), 2(nd), and 3(rd) trimesters and at early neonatal period in neonates in 81 mother-infant pairs (hypothyroid women on replacement) and compared them with 51 control mother-infant pairs (euthyroid). RESULTS: Mean age of cases (29.42 + 3.56 years) was comparable to that of controls (29.87 + 3.37 years). The thyroid function evaluation done at baseline revealed the following: FT3 2.92 ± 0.76 versus 3.71 ± 0.54 pg/ml, T3 1.38 ± 0.37 versus 1.70 ± 0.35 ng/dl, FT4 1.22 ± 0.33 versus 1.52 ± 0.21 ng/dl, T4 9.54 ± 2.34 versus 13.55 ± 2.16 µg/dl, and TSH 7.92 ± 2.88 versus 4.14 ± 1.06 µIU/ml in cases versus controls (P > 0.01), respectively. The 2(nd) to 6(th) day thyroid function of neonates born to case and control mothers revealed T3 of 1.46 ± 0.44 versus 1.48 ± 0.36 ng/dl, T4 of 12.92 ± 2.57 versus 11.76 ± 1.78 µg/dl, and TSH of 3.64 ± 1.92 versus 3.82 ± 1.45 µIU/ml, respectively. DISCUSSION: UIE was similar (139.12 ± 20.75 vs. 143.78 ± 17.65 µg/l; P = 0.8), but TSH values were higher in cases (7.92 ± 2.88) as compared to controls (4.14 ± 1.06). Although UIE gradually declined from 1(st) trimester to term, it remained in the sufficient range in both cases and controls. Thyroid function and UIE was similar in both case and control neonates. CONCLUSION: We conclude that pregnant Kashmiri women and their neonates are iodine sufficient, indicating successful salt iodization in the community. Large community-based studies on thyroid function, autoimmunity, malignancies, etc., are needed to see the long-term impact of iodization.