The spectrum of androgen excess disorders.

A better understanding of the different phenotypes and of their endocrine and metabolic characteristics permits investigators to distinguish three main androgen excess disorders: classic polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), mild ovulatory PCOS, and idiopathic hyperandrogenism. These androgenic phenotypes differ more for the severity of the endocrine and metabolic alteration than for the etiopathogenetic mechanisms. The appearance of a particular androgenic phenotype is determined by a sum of genetic and environmental factors, but mostly by body weight.