Purpose:
Polycystic ovary disease (PCOD) is one of the most common female endocrine conditions associated with anovulation, oligo-amenorrhea, and infertility in women of childbearing age. PCOD has been suggested as one of the potential metabolic syndrome facets, and carotid intima media thickness (C-IMT) could serve as a predictive/monitoring marker in assessing or following the risk of heart disease in these patients.
Methods: A observational single-center investigation was performed on total of 48 female patients (24 with PCOD and 24 age-matched healthy participants). Employing an 8-12 MHz surface ultrasound transducer, and averaging the measurements from three standard areas of both common carotid arteries, the mean value of the C-IMT participants were compared between the two subgroups. Focal point was set at the center of the artery lumen, and near-field arterial wall was evaluated for C-IMT while ‘tissue harmonic imaging’ was turned-on.
Results:
Twenty-four cases  of PCOD (with mean age of 33.17 ± 3.91), and 24 age-matched healthy females (with mean age of 33.12± 3.81) were included. Mean C-IMT value was measured at 0.57± 0.09 and 0.71 ± 0.17 for case and control subgroups, respectively (P = 0.019).
Conclusion:
The mean C-IMT in PCOD patients is significantly higher than that of the healthy females of same age. Thus, C-IMT could serve as a metabolic syndrome index in PCOD patients and might be of help in monitoring patients for the efficiency of treatment measures taken to decrease the probability of subsequent cardiovascular diseases.