Morphologic and functional vascular alterations in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome

Background: We aimed to investigate morphologic and functional alterations of common carotid arteries (CCA) and femoral arteries and the anteroposterior diameter of the abdominal aorta in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Materials and Methods: Fifty consecutive females with the complaint of oligoamenorrhea, infertility or hirsutismus, diagnosed with PCOS and 50 healthy females admitted to the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Ergani State Hospital between January 2010 and January 2011 were included in the study. Results: The mean BMI of 50 patients with PCOS was higher than control subjects (CS) (25.89 +/- 3.3 vs 22.52 +/- 2.7 kg/m(2), p < 0.0001). The mean arterial blood pressure was 88.93 +/- 6.4 mmHg in the patient group and was it 85.73 +/- 7.6 mmHg in CS (p = 0.02). The mean plasma glucose level (74.04 +/- 6.7 vs 70.5 +/- 6.4 mg/dl), total cholesterol level (167.88 +/- 30.1 vs 153.38 +/- 27.8 mg/di), low density lipoprotein level (101.28 +/- 27.0 vs 79.56 +/- 25.5 mg/dl) and triglyceride level (121.22 +/- 49.2 vs 102.54 +/- 36.6 mg/di) were higher; also the mean high density lipoprotein level (44.56 +/- 8.1 vs 50.90 +/- 12.3 mg/dl) was lower in patients with PCOS than CS (p = 0.009, p = 0.014, p < 0.0001, p = 0.034 and p = 0.003, respectively). CCA-IMT (0.63 +/- 0.2 vs 0.52 +/- 0.1 mm), and CCA-PI (1.44 +/- 0.3 vs 1.28 +/- 0.22) were higher in patients with PCOS (p = 0.018 and p = 0.005, respectively). Femoral-IMT (0.62 +/- 0.6 vs 0.41 +/- 0.1 mm) and anteroposterior diameter of the infrarenal aorta (12.34 +/- 1.5 vs 11.4 +/- 1.0 mm) were higher in patients with PCOS (p = 0.024 and p = 0.001, respectively). Conclusion: The present study showed that IMT and PI of CCA, and anteroposterior diameter of the infrarenal abdominal aorta and femoral-IMT were higher in patients with PCOS. These results are probably related with increased androgens, their effects on insulin resistance and lipid profile, increased BMI and blood pressure. Detection of these functional and/or structural abnormalities are important in predicting prognosis. Larger scale prospective studies are needed to determine the effects of PCOS on the mortality and morbidity, and to clarify the relation between the duration of the disease and development of these alterations.