Ultrasonographic study of ovaries of 19 women with weight loss-related hypothalamic oligo-amenorrhea.

A study of 19 nonhirsute women with weight loss-related hypothalamic oligo-amenorrhea revealed evidence of multifollicular ovaries in 17. Enlarged ovaries greater than 10 cm3 were found in 8 of these subjects (42.1%). High-resolution real-time ultrasonography of the pelvis of 19 weight loss-related oligo-amenorrheic subjects revealed a mean +/- SD maximum ovarian volume (MOV) of 11.8 +/- 7.0 cm3, which was significantly different from those of control subjects whose mean +/- SD MOV was 5.2 +/- 1.9 cm3 (P = less than 0.001). The data do not allow a specific ultrasonographic distinction between hyperandrogenic women with polycystic ovarian disease and women with weight loss-related hypothalamic amenorrhea.