Rotterdam criteria for PCOS subtypes show promise
Source: The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism 2006; 91: 4842-8
Comparing features of women with polycystic ovary syndrome defined in the four subgroups of the Rotterdam workshop.
Scientists have uncovered evidence to support the classification of women with different subtypes of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) according to Rotterdam criteria.
Corrine Welt, from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, and co-workers compared four subgroups of women with PCOS, who were grouped using the criteria outlined in the Rotterdam PCOS consensus workshop.
They therefore either had irregular menses (IM), hyperandrogenism (HA), and polycystic ovary morphology (PCOM; n=298); IM and HA (n=7); HA and PCOM (n=77); or IM and PCOM (n=36). A group of controls (n=64) was also included in analyses.
It was found that 97 percent of women with IM and HA had PCOM, and so the groups with and without PCOM were combined.
While Ferriman-Gallwey scores and androgen levels were highest in the hyperandrogenic groups (IM and HA, HA and PCOM), ovarian volume was higher in all PCOS subgroups compared with controls, as expected based on the Rotterdam classifications.
Furthermore, body mass index and insulin levels were highest in the women with IM and HA.
"These data provide evidence to support three subsets of subjects with PCOS defined by the Rotterdam criteria for potential use in genetics studies," the scientists conclude.
Posted: 03 January 2007
© 2007 Current Medicine Group Ltd, a part of Springer Science+Business Media
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Rotterdam criteria for PCOS subtypes show promise 
