Estrogenic ovulatory dysfunction or functional female hyperandrogenism: an argument to discard the term polycystic ovary syndrome

Abstract

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common endocrine disorders seen among reproductive-age women, with a prevalence of 4%-9% depending on the criteria used to define the syndrome. The diagnostic criteria for PCOS have been surprisingly controversial and confusing for patients, clinicians, and researchers. We believe that the confusion surrounding PCOS arises almost entirely because its name refers to a trait that is inconsistently present and irrelevant to both the etiology and the treatment of the disorder. We suggest that merely abandoning the term PCOS will cure much of what has ailed us for decades and allow us to focus on the etiology and treatment of the causes of what the experts in this field have come to recognize as functional female hyperandrogenism.