Clinical Presentation of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Abstract

Clinical presentation of PCOS varies among individuals. A patient with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) may present to the gynecologist with menstrual irregularities, mainly oligo-amenorrhea, by means of detected polycystic morphology on ultrasonography. A patient might also seek a dermatologist for hyperandrogenic manifestations, such as acne, hirsutism, androgenic alopecia, and acanthosis nigricans, or a fertility clinic with complains of infertility. Patients may arrive at the obesity clinic with metabolic abnormalities. Understanding the clinical features at presentation is crucial for understanding the disease and conducting a thorough assessment of the patient. Therefore, in this chapter, we will learn in detail about the assessment of all the clinical features of PCOS in detail. Since PCOS is the diagnosis of exclusion, clinical features differentiating PCOS from other conditions with overlapping symptoms like non-classical congenital adrenal hyperplasia, hypo-hyperthyroidism, hyperprolactinemia, Cushing syndrome, acromegaly, and ovarian and adrenal neoplasm will also be discussed.