Scientific Statement on the Diagnostic Criteria, Epidemiology, Pathophysiology, and Molecular Genetics of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a heterogeneous and complex disorder that has both adverse reproductive and metabolic implications for affected women. However, there is generally poor understanding of its etiology. Varying expert-based diagnostic criteria utilize some combination of oligo-ovulation, hyperandrogenism, and the presence of polycystic ovaries. Criteria that require hyperandrogenism tend to identify a more severe reproductive and metabolic phenotype. The phenotype can vary by race and ethnicity, is difficult to define in the perimenarchal and perimenopausal period, and is exacerbated by obesity. The pathophysiology involves abnormal gonadotropin secretion from a reduced hypothalamic feedback…

• UO
  University of Pennsylvania
• PS
  Pennsylvania State University
• NI
  National Institutes of Health

  Awards: 28934, U54 HD 28934