Endocrine Abstracts

Objective: We previously reported that the reduced arterial elasticity in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) women is present in the first trimester of pregnancy. Women with reduced arterial elasticity are more likely to develop pre eclampsia, which association with PCOS is still unproven. This study was designed to compare blood pressure (BP) and arterial elasticity in pregnant PCOS women and controls in second trimester.

Methods: The subjects were 15 pregnant PCOS women and 15 healthy, age, BMI, ethnicity and parity matched pregnant controls. The pulsatility index (PI), compliance and arterial stiffness index were measured in the right common carotid artery (CCA) (3 centimetres from carotid bulb) using duplex ultrasound (7.5 MHz linear probe) with an echo-locked arterial wall-tracking system (Pie Medical 250) and 24 hour ambulatory BP was monitored (Spacelabs 90217). Means (plus/minus SEM) for the two groups were compared using Students t test for paired data. This study was approved by the Local Ethical Committee

Results: Pregnant PCOS women had a significantly higher arterial stiffness index than the controls (6.01 plus/minus 0.255 vs. 4.09 plus/minus 0.294, p less than 0.005) and lower compliance (19.05 plus/minus 0.828 vs. 31.65 plus/minus 2.381, p less than 0.001). The mean PI was significantly lower (1.59 plus/minus 0.152 vs. 2.36 plus/ minus 0.127, p less than 0.05). The BP was however similar during the day (115/71 and 112/69) and night (101/59 and 98/56).

Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that the decreased arterial elasticity and increased arterial stiffness of women with PCOS are maintained during the first and second trimesters of pregnancy. Although we have not yet found any significant increase in BP compared to the controls, there is evidence that pre eclampsia is more common in women with impaired arterial viscoelasticity and we anticipate that such a difference may become apparent in the third trimester.