POLYCYSTIC OVARIES IN ASSOCIATION WITH MULLERIAN ANOMALIES

The polycystic ovary syndrome, whose etiopathogenesis is not clearly u nderstood, has a wide spectrum of clinical presentations, and may co-e xist with other pathologic conditions. In this study, we evaluated the prevalence of ultrasound-defined polycystic ovaries (PCO) in patients with mullerian anomalies (n = 167), and those without miillerian anom alies (n = 3165) from 1990 to 1994, in a population markedly composed of infertility patients. PCO were found in 50 (29.9%) patients in the study group, compared to 637 (20.1%) patients in controls (P < 0.01). Mullerian anomalies were further grouped according to the American Fer tility Society (AFS) classification and it was found that patients wit h the septate uteri and bicornuate uteri malformations had a higher pr evalence of PCO than the controls (P < 0.001, P < 0.05, respectively). Although a difference existed in the percentage of PCO in patients wi th unicornuate uteri and didelphic uteri compared to controls, this di fference did not reach statistical significance (P > 0.05). We conclud e that, as PCO are more prevalant in certain miillerian anomalies, an embryogenetic defect may also be involved in the etiopathogenesis of P CO.