Clinical Evaluation of PCOS

Hyperandrogenism, insulin resistance, cardiovascular disease, infertility, cancer, reproduction Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrinopathy in women that in its simplest form consists of unexplained hyperandrogenic chronic anovulation, which affects ~7% of the US population [1]. Because its etiology and natural history are poorly understood, there is controversy about the diagnostic criteria and clinical evaluation of the syndrome. Its origins as a named disorder track back to its original description in the 1930s by Stein and Leventhal, a pair of gynecologists from Chicago, who described a complex of signs and symptoms including oligomenorrhea, enlarged polycystic ovaries, hirsutism, and obesity, and also pioneered the treatment of wedge resection of the ovaries which resulted in more regular menses and improved fertility [2]. Since that time, there has been debate as to what the cardinal features of the syndrome are or should be, but a guiding thread of consensus stemming from this original description has been that this is an ovarian disorder of hyperandrogenism (although whether this is primary or secondary is uncertain) and is most readily diagnosed in women of reproductive age [3, 4]