Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - Faculty Of Medicine - Department Of Gynecology and Obstetrics

Polycystic ovaries were first recognized at the beginning of the last century (Ashton , 1906) , it was first brought to the attention of medical profession in 1935 by Stein and Leventhal who reported a series of seven patients with bilateral olycystic ovaries and a thickened ovarian cortex (seen at laparotomy) and the clinical features of amenorrhea , hirsutism and infertility (Stein and Leventhal , 1935) The definition of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) varies markedly among investigators , some use clinical criteria that may include anovulation , obesity , hirsutism , insulin resistance and sonographic visualization of polycystic ovaries (El - Tabbakh et al , 1986) , while others use laboratory criteria that may include elevated serum LH levels , elevated circulating androgens and increased LH : FSH ratio (Devane et al , 1975 and Yen , 1980) The aim of this work is to evaluate the recent trends in diagnosis and treatment of patients with PCOS ; to assess their efficacy and potential complications through conducting a systemic overview and critical analysis of the body of data in the literature

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