OBJECTIVE: This study was performed to test the hypothesis that an increased prevalence of activated protein C (APC) resistance in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) puts them at increased risk of miscarriage and thrombosis. DESIGN: Case control study. SETTING: A district general hospital in the United Kingdom. PATIENT(S): Forty-one women with PCOS and 25 controls. INTERVENTION(S): Clinical histories, ultrasound scans, and venepunctures. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Diagnosis of PCOS or control, clinical histories, APC resistance according to an activated partial thromboplastin time-based assay. RESULT(S): There was no significant difference in the proportion of women with APC resistance in both groups (three women in the PCOS group [7%] vs. one woman in the control group [4%]). The prevalence of APC resistance in the entire study population was 6.5%. In the PCOS group, 29% (12/41) gave a positive family history of thrombosis compared with 8% (2/25) in the control group. None of the women with a positive family history of thrombosis had abnormal antithrombin 111, protein C, or protein S levels. CONCLUSION(S): This study suggests that women with PCOS may have the same prevalence of APC resistance as the background population and that APC resistance may not put them at a higher risk of thrombosis or miscarriage compared with the case of the general population.
OBJECTIVE: This study was performed to test the hypothesis that an increased prevalence of activated protein C (APC) resistance in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) puts them at increased risk of miscarriage and thrombosis. DESIGN: Case control study. SETTING: A district general hospital in the United Kingdom. PATIENT(S): Forty-one women with PCOS and 25 controls. INTERVENTION(S): Clinical histories, ultrasound scans, and venepunctures. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Diagnosis of PCOS or control, clinical histories, APC resistance according to an activated partial thromboplastin time-based assay. RESULT(S): There was no significant difference in the proportion of women with APC resistance in both groups (three women in the PCOS group [7%] vs. one woman in the control group [4%]). The prevalence of APC resistance in the entire study population was 6.5%. In the PCOS group, 29% (12/41) gave a positive family history of thrombosis compared with 8% (2/25) in the control group. None of the women with a positive family history of thrombosis had abnormal antithrombin 111, protein C, or protein S levels. CONCLUSION(S): This study suggests that women with PCOS may have the same prevalence of APC resistance as the background population and that APC resistance may not put them at a higher risk of thrombosis or miscarriage compared with the case of the general population.