Does Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Abate with Age?

To meet the well-established Rotterdam criteria for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a woman must exhibit two of these three characteristics: chronic anovulation, hyperandrogenism, and polycystic ovaries (with no evidence of other endocrine disease). Investigators assessed whether these and other features of PCOS change over time by following, for 20 years, 193 women in Italy with retrospectively diagnosed PCOS (mean age at diagnosis, 22). At diagnosis, 57% of the cohort had all three “classic” Rotterdam characteristics (phenotype A); 9% had no evidence of polycystic ovaries (phenotype B); 26% were ovulatory (phenotype C); and 7% had no evidence of hyperandrogenism (phenotype D). On average, the women with phenotype A were overweight, thos…