EXCESSIVE ESTRADIOL SECRETION IN POLYCYSTIC OVARIAN DISEASE

Polycystic ovarian disease is both a hyperestrogenic and a hyperandrog enic syndrome, and all studies have shown that hyperestrogenemia is th e result of an elevation of estrone with plasma estradiol levels in th e normal follicular range. Because a literature search failed to revea l any report of polycystic ovarian disease with significantly elevated estradiol levels, we report a case in which the plasma estradiol was so massively elevated as to mimic an estrogen-producing neoplasm. This case also suggests that although polycystic ovarian disease is a very rare cause of such excessive estradiol production, it should be inclu ded in the differential diagnosis of estrogen-producing neoplasms.