Introduction:

Polycystic ovary syndrome is the most common endocrine disorder in women during the reproductive stage. Several consensuses have been made in order to define its diagnostic criteria and hyperandrogenism has always been present, either clinical or mood related.

Objective:

To describe the aspects related to hormonal diagnosis in polycystic ovary syndrome.

Methods:

A literature review was performed on aspects related to the hormonal diagnosis of polycystic ovary syndrome. Original articles in English were obtained from Pubmed, Google Scholar, EMBASE and MEDLINE databases. Priority was given to the MESH BROWSER term polycystic ovary syndrome.

Results:

The hormonal diagnosis of polycystic ovary syndrome should demonstrate hyperandrogenism biochemically, whenever possible, although if there is clinical evidence based on the diagnostic criteria themselves it is not mandatory. The most useful laboratory method appears to be the determination of free testosterone or instead that of the free androgen index, followed by total testosterone. Other androgen determinations are of less value as first line.

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