Raising Threshold for Diagnosis of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Excludes Population of Patients with Metabolic Risk

The study, conducted on 259 women diagnosed with PCOS and 1,100 controls, found that increasing the follicle number threshold for PCOS diagnosis to ≥25 would exclude 18.1% of women who still exhibit metabolic risks. The excluded women showed clinical and biochemical signs of hyperandrogenism and had higher levels of total cholesterol, fasting insulin, and insulin resistance compared to controls. The findings suggest that the proposed diagnostic criteria may overlook women with significant metabolic dysfunction, indicating a need to reevaluate the criteria to ensure that all women at risk for PCOS and its associated metabolic complications are accurately identified and managed.