Ferriman-Gallwey scores, serum androgen and mullerian inhibiting substance levels in hirstute adolescent girls.

OBJECTIVE

To study Ferriman-Gallwey (FG) scoring in adolescents with an aim to correlate these scores with serum androgens and mullerian inhibiting substance (MIS).

DESIGN

Cross sectional study.

SETTING

Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology Clinic of a university hospital.

PATIENTS: Twenty-four hirsute adolescent girls age 12-19 with a FG score of 6 or greater.

INTERVENTIONS: FG examination and collection of serum levels of MIS, total testosterone, free testosterone, follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), prolactin, cortisol, and androstenedione.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Correlation between FG scores in adolescents and serum androgens and MIS.

RESULTS

Weak correlations were seen between FG score and FSH, free-testosterone, total testosterone, and cortisol. Increasing FG scores correlated with an increase in cortisol. As FG score increased, FSH, free-testosterone, and total testosterone decreased. There was no statistical relationship between FG score and LH, androstenedione, prolactin, and MIS. There were weak positive correlations between MIS levels and FSH, total testosterone, and androstenedione. There was no evidence for a linear relationship between MIS levels and LH, free testosterone, cortisol, prolactin, and FG score.

CONCLUSIONS

The utility of FG scoring in adolescents is unknown. There were no direct correlations found with MIS levels and FG score. MIS was not found to be a predictor of hirsutism. A larger study is needed to assess the clinical relevance of FG scoring and presence of underlying causes of hirsutism in adolescents.