[Relationship between circulating androgens and ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome in anovulatory patients treated...

In order to evaluate relationship between circulating androgens levels and development of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHS) in anovulatory patients treated sequentially with hMG and hCG, serum concentrations of androstenedione (A), testosterone (T) as well as estradiol (Ed) were measured serially in a total of 17 anovulatory patients including 9 who did not develop OHS and 8 who developed mild or moderate OHS. Increase of Ed levels during the period of hMG treatment varied remarkably in individual patients with OHS ranging from 7.2 to 190.1 times as much the pretreatment value. On the other hand, increase of A levels during the hMG treatment was recorded in the range from 2.0 to 3.2 times as much the pretreatment value in 4 patients with mild OHS, and from 1.5 to 5.9 in 4 patients with moderate OHS. However, the ratio of A increase remained within 1.4 times in patients without OHS. A transient increase of circulating T was observed in 2 days after commencement of hCG treatment, ranging between 1.4 and 3.2 times in patients without OHS, between 1.8 and 2.4 times in patients with mild OHS and between 3.8 and 6.8 times in patients with moderate OHS. It is concluded that serial measurements of A and T during the course of hMG and hCG treatments respectively appear to be an additional index other than Ed to predict development of OHS.