A new name for PCOS, the most common cause of infertility

Portico Crisis Pregnancy Center nurse manager Diandra Bell straightens an examination table in an ultrasound room Jan. 26, 2022, in Murfreesboro, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Zaleski)

A disorder that affects 170 million women worldwide and is the leading cause of infertility known as polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS, is being renamed to improve diagnosis and care, researchers announced on Tuesday at a medical meeting.

The new name, polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome, or PMOS, was chosen by a global coalition of patients, clinicians, and medical organizations to better reflect the condition’s wide-ranging hormonal and metabolic impacts, according to a report in The Lancet published to coincide with a presentation at the European Congress of Endocrinology in Prague.

The name polycystic ovary syndrome often lead women and their clinicians to mistakenly associate it with ovarian cysts, which are not necessarily present in every patient, Dr. Terhi Piltonen of the University of Oulu in Finland wrote in a research letter published on Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine. Piltonen was also lead author of the Lancet paper.

The focus on ovarian cysts has led to delays in diagnoses and fragmented care, while the new name aims to improve how the condition is detected, treated, and explained, the researchers said.

The consensus to rename the condition, led by several research groups and the Androgen Excess and PCOS Society, was based on more than 14,000 survey responses from patients and health professionals worldwide, as well as two international workshops and input from 56 academic, clinical, and patient organizations, researchers said.

Symptoms of PMOS include irregular or absent menstrual cycles, infertility, pregnancy complications, excess hair growth, acne, anxiety and depression, weight gain, obesity, diabetes and other disturbances in insulin, and cardiovascular disease.

In the ovaries, rather than cysts, women often have an excess of so-called antral follicles - small, fluid-filled sacs containing immature eggs.

While the condition is not curable, symptoms are treatable with medications and changes in diet and exercise, according to the Endocrine Society.

Plans to transition to the new terminology over the next three years are already in motion, including integrating PMOS into health systems, clinical guidelines, professional training, and disease classification, the researchers said.

Reporting by Nancy Lapid; Editing by Bill Berkrot, Reuters