Finasteride treatment for one year in 35 hirsute patients

This study was performed to confirm the favourable therapeutic effects of finasteride in hirsute women as described by previous publications of different research groups. Our study was a non-randomized, prospective clinical trial. Thirty five patients with hirsutism were included in the study. The patients received 5 mg finasteride orally once per day over a period of 12 months. Hirsutism score, FSH, LH, E2, total T, free T, androstenedione (A), DHEAS, 17-hydroxyprogesterone (17-OHP) and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) levels were determined in all the patients before treatment and every 6 months during treatment. The modified Ferriman-Gallwey score decreased from a mean of 19.06 +/- 6.12 to 11.31 +/- 4.93 during the study. Clinical improvement in the degree of hirsutism was observed in 26 of 35 patients. The percent reductions in hirsutism scores (mean% +/- SD) at 6 and at 12 months were 25.8 +/- 11.3 and 41.3 +/- 18.5, respectively. During the finasteride therapy E2 and SHBG were increased significantly while DHEAS was decreased significantly at 12 months. There were no significant changes in the values of the other hormones and no serious side effects were observed in the study. In conclusion, finasteride is a well tolerated therapeutic agent without significant side pathological laboratory findings and can be used in the treatment of hirsutism.