【Medical Q&A】What is polycystic ovary syndrome? Does it affect pregnancy?

Author: Li He, deputy chief physician, Shanghai Ji'ai Genetics and Infertility Diagnosis and Treatment Center, Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Fudan University

Reviewer: Fu Jing, Chief Physician, Shanghai Ji'ai Genetics and Infertility Diagnosis and Treatment Center, Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Fudan University

Polycystic ovary syndrome is a gynecological endocrine disease characterized by hyperandrogenism, ovulation disorders and polycystic ovaries.

The main clinical manifestations of PCOS are: menstrual disorders, infertility, hirsutism, acne, etc. The ovaries of patients are often uniformly enlarged, and more than 50% of patients are obese. Some patients have melanin deposition on the labia, neck back, and armpits. For patients with this disease, normal conception is often affected due to anovulation or infrequent ovulation. At the same time, due to the combination of metabolic and endocrine abnormalities, the difficulty of pregnancy is aggravated.

For patients with PCOS, those who do not want to have children should adjust their menstrual cycles, and those who want to have children should seek help from a doctor and use ovulation-inducing drugs when necessary. Patients with PCOS combined with obesity and insulin resistance should implement weight loss as a task in treating the disease. Combined with oral metformin to treat insulin resistance, it often helps to restore menstrual regularity and ovulation, thereby increasing the chances of pregnancy and childbearing. Patients with hyperandrogenism can take Diane 35 to suppress androgen levels if other causes are excluded.