This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Antiandrogenic pretreatment decreases gestational diabetes risk in PCOS
Pregnant women with polycystic ovary syndrome previously treated with the antiandrogenic therapy ethinylestradiol/cyproterone acetate have a lower risk for gestational diabetes and pregnancy-induced hypertension compared with healthy pregnant women and pregnant women with PCOS who did not receive the treatment, study data show.
Xiangyan Ruan, MD, PhD, professor in the department of gynecological endocrinology at Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Capital Medical University, and colleagues evaluated data from women attending the Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital for standard antenatal examinations and delivery from 2013 to June 2016. Researchers sought to determine the prevalence of gestational diabetes, pregnancy-induced hypertension and premature delivery along with neonatal birth weight among 6,000 healthy women (mean age, 31.92 years), women with PCOS not previously treated with antiandrogenic therapy (mean age, 30.76 years) and 222 women with PCOS previously treated with ethinylestradiol/cyproterone acetate (EE/CPA) for 3 months (mean age, 30.12 years).
Participants with PCOS not previously treated had the highest prevalence of gestational diabetes (35%) compared with healthy controls (21.1%) and participants with PCOS previously treated with EE/CPA (22.5%), as well as the highest prevalence of pregnancy-induced hypertension (14.1% vs. 6.5% vs. 7.7%, respectively). Preterm delivery prevalence was higher among participants with PCOS without pretreatment (8.6%) compared with healthy controls (5.4%) and participants with PCOS previously treated with EE/CPA (6.8%). No differences were observed among the three groups for neonatal birth weight.
“Pretreatment with EE/CPA for patients with PCOS was associated with lower risks of adverse pregnancy outcomes,” the researchers wrote. “This study confirms the routine clinical practice in our hospital in the management of patients with PCOS who wish to conceive. Thus, we would like to recommend EE/CPA pretreatment at least in patients with PCOS meeting the preconditions and treatment schedule as investigated in our study. We tested a highly selected population of Chinese women. Further studies are needed that would not have the limitations of our study. If our conclusion can be confirmed, this may lead to the recommendation for an antiandrogenic pretreatment for PCOS managements, at least for Chinese women.” – by Amber Cox
Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.