Current Trends in Diagnosis and Management of Polycystic Ovarian Disease

Abstract

Polycystiovaries were first recognized at the beginning of the last century (Ashton, 1906),

it was first brought to the attention of medical profeSsion in 1935 by Stein and Lcvcntlml who reported a St!rics of seven patients ith bilateral polycystic ovaries and a tl1ickcncd ovarian cortex (seen at laparotomy) and the• clinical featw-es of amenorrhea, hirsutism and infertility (Stein and Leventhal, 1935).

111c definition of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) varies markedly mi10ng investigators, some use clinical criteria that may include anovulation, obesity, hirsutism, insulin resistance and sonographic visualization of polycystic ovaries (El-T abbakh ct al., 1986), while others usc laboratory criteria that may include elevated serum U-I levels, elevated circulating androgens and increased LH:FSH ratio (Devane ct al., 1975 and Yen, 1980). The aim of this work is to evaluate tl1e current trends in diagnosis m1d treatment o( paticilts with PC6S; to assess their cllicacy an'd potential complications U1rough conducting a systemic ovcrvic\\' and critical analysis of the body of data in the litcratmc.