High Prevalence of Chronic Thyroiditis in Patients with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

The study, which included 113 patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and 100 healthy controls, found a significantly higher prevalence of autoimmune thyroiditis (AIT) in the PCOS group (27%) compared to the control group (8%). Subclinical hypothyroidism was present in 43% of the PCOS patients with AIT. No significant difference was found in the prevalence of non-thyroid autoantibodies or anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) levels between PCOS patients with and without AIT, nor between PCOS patients and controls. The study suggests that PCOS patients should be screened for AIT, although the cause of the high prevalence of AIT in PCOS patients remains unclear. No evidence of other autoimmune diseases or ovarian autoimmunity was associated with PCOS in this study.