Long-Term Response of Hirsutism and Other Hyperandrogenic Symptoms to Combination Therapy in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

    June 2018 in “ Journal of Womens Health ”
    Uche Ezeh, Andy Huang, Melanie Landay, Ricardo Azziz
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    TLDR Combination therapy with oral contraceptives and spironolactone improves hair growth, menstrual issues, and acne in women with PCOS.
    In a retrospective cross-sectional analysis of 200 women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), combination therapy with oral contraceptives (OCs) and spironolactone (SPL) was found to be effective in improving hirsutism, menstrual dysfunction, and acne. The study, which had a mean follow-up of 34.2 months, showed that 85.1% of patients reported improvement in hirsutism, with a 59.9% reduction in the modified Ferriman-Gallwey (mF-G) score. The likelihood of treatment satisfaction for hirsutism could be predicted by the initial mF-G score or sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) levels. The study concluded that OC+SPL therapy is more effective than either drug alone and that patient satisfaction increases with treatment duration. However, the study's limitations include its retrospective nature, the homogeneity of the subject population, and the lack of assessment of insulin levels and IGF-1. Further research is needed to validate the predictive model in different cohorts.
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