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Functional Significance of Polycystic-Size Ovaries in Healthy Adolescents

Section of Pediatric Endocrinology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Elizabeth Littlejohn, University of Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital, Section of Pediatric Endocrinology, 5841 South Maryland Avenue (M/C 5053), Chicago, Illinois 60637. E-mail: ebaumann{at}peds.bsd.uchicago.edu.

Context: The relevance of adult polycystic ovary criteria to adolescence is unclear.

Objective: The objective was to determine the functional significance of polycystic-size ovaries (PSO) in healthy adolescents.

Design/Setting/Participants/Interventions: Healthy 11- to 18-yr-old postmenarcheal volunteers (n = 22) were recruited and divided into groups with normal size ovaries (VNSO; n = 10) or a polycystic-size ovary (VPSO; n = 12). They were secondarily compared with adolescents with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS; n = 8) matched for gynecological age and a PSO. All underwent GnRH agonist (GnRHag), oral glucose tolerance, and ACTH1–24 testing in our General Clinical Research Center.

Results: VPSO had a higher peak 17-hydroxyprogesterone (17PROG) response to GnRHag than VNSO (146 ± 14 ng/dl, mean ± SEM, vs. 85 ± 11; P = 0.008), as well as larger ovaries (13.3 ± 0.7 cc vs. 8.5 ± 0.8 cc). VPSO peak 17PROG was elevated (>137 ng/dl) in 42% (5 of 12). However, VPSO and VNSO androgen levels were similar, with the exception of one VPSO subject who had hyperandrogenemia and thus met criteria for PCOS. VPSO were similar to VNSO in LH, FSH, estradiol, and adrenal androgenic function. Although the VPSO group resembled the PCOS group in their 17PROG response to the GnRHag test, they differed in having significantly smaller ovaries and lower body mass index and in lacking evidence of peripheral androgen excess and of insulin resistance.

Conclusion: A PSO in asymptomatic adolescents seems typically to be a normal variant. However, about half have a subclinical PCOS type of ovarian dysfunction; it is unknown whether this indicates a genetic carrier state or a risk for anovulation.

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