Clinico-Investigative Profile of Patients with Hirsutism in a Tertiary Level Institution
January 2012
in “
International Journal of Trichology
”
Studysummary In this study, idiopathic hirsutism was identified as the most common cause of hirsutism among the participants, with a significant difference in hormone levels between cases of polycystic ovarian syndrome and idiopathic hirsutism. Our plain-language summary of this paper — not a Tressless recommendation.
The study conducted between August 2009 and July 2010 included 50 newly diagnosed hirsutism patients and found that idiopathic hirsutism (IH) was the most common cause, affecting 60% of patients, followed by polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) in 38%. The mean age of participants was 23.8 years, and the modified Ferriman Gallwey (mF-G) score was used for clinical assessments. Hormonal analysis indicated higher levels of total and free testosterone, and 17-hydroxyprogesterone in PCOS patients compared to those with IH. Additionally, 50.8% of patients had irregular menstrual cycles, with 64.2% of these patients diagnosed with PCOS. Acne was the most common sign of hyperandrogenism, present in 60% of patients, and obesity was observed in 20% of the study population. The study concluded that hirsutism could be a marker for underlying hormonal and systemic conditions, and while PCOS patients showed more signs of hyperandrogenism, a detailed investigative approach was necessary for the idiopathic group. The study's limitation was its small sample size, suggesting that a larger sample might lead to a lower cutoff for the mF-G score.
