Ultrasonic findings in polycystic ovarian disease

The uterus and ovaries of 50 patients with polycystic ovarian disease (PCOD) and 30 eumenorrheic women were studied with a real-time ultrasound mechanical sector scanner. Uterine and ovarian volumes (UV and OV) and the OV/UV ratio were calculated, and ovarian morphology was classified as prevalently solid and cystic. Both ovaries were displayed in 44 of the PCOD and in 25 of the normal patients and appeared bilaterally solid, cystic, or with different morphology, respectively, in 43.2%, 47.7%, and 9.1% of cases in the former group and in 76%, 20%, and 4% in the latter group. Statistically significant differences between normal and PCOD patients were found in OV, UV, and OV/UV ratio. Bilaterally enlarged ovaries with multiple tiny cysts, the classic ultrasonographic picture of the polycystic ovary, were found in only 16 (36.3%) of the PCOD cases, while 34 (77.3%) had an OV/UV ratio greater than 1 standard deviation above the mean. Four ultrasonographic ovarian patterns were observed in the PCOD patients: enlarged cystic; enlarged solid; normal-sized cystic; and normal-sized solid. These findings emphasize the need for a reconsideration of the ultrasonographic criteria of PCOD.