Temporal lobe epilepsy: an extrahypothalamic pathogenesis for polycystic ovarian syndrome?

In a random sample of 20 women with temporal lobe epilepsy (complex partial seizures, CPS), we found 5 women with the polycystic ovarian syndrome. This finding in a small sample suggests a fivefold overrepresentation of polycystic ovarian syndrome among women with CPS. Clinical and experimental data support the notion that CPS and polycystic ovarian syndrome either favor a mutual development or are parallel effects of a common pathogenesis.