Clinical and Hormonal Evaluation of Androgen Excess

The 2007 document discussed hyperandrogenism, an endocrine disorder in women characterized by higher than normal levels of hormones like testosterone, leading to symptoms such as hirsutism, menstrual dysfunction, acne, and androgenic alopecia. The majority of androgen excess was attributed to polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), but other causes included nonclassic adrenal hyperplasia, androgen-secreting neoplasms, Cushing’s syndrome, HAIR-AN syndrome, and the use of androgenic drugs. Idiopathic hirsutism (IH) was also mentioned as a potential differential diagnosis. The approach to patients with androgen excess involved screening, confirmation, exclusion of specific disorders, classification of patients without a specific disorder, and identification of related morbidities.