Increased clitoral artery pulsatility index and decreased sexual desire level in women with polycystic ovary syndrome

Abstract

Objectives: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is claimed to effect the sexual desire, and recently, blood flow in the clitoral artery (CA) was measured by Doppler ultrasound (USG) examination and the level of sexual desire was objectively demonstrated by determining the pulsatility index (PI). In the present study, it was aimed to quantitatively determine the sexual desire levels in women with PCOS using Doppler USG and to compare the data with healthy women. Material and methods:The study included 71 patients diagnosed with PCOS and 78 healthy women who applied to our tertiary hospital gynecology clinics and for control purposes. Pulsatility indices were determined by measuring blood flows in the clitoral artery, uterine artery, ovarian artery and labial artery using Doppler USG in all participants. The clitoral artery pulsatility index was found to be increased significantly in women with PCOS. Results: The mean age was 28.5 +/- 3.7 in the polycystic ovary syndrome group and 30.0 +/- 5.2 in the control group. The mean clitoral artery pulsatility index (1.4 +/- 0.5 cm/sec) in the PCOS group was significantly higher than the control group (1.2 +/- 0.4 cm/sec) (p = 0.033 cm/sec).The mean ovarian artery pulsatility index (0.8 +/- 0.2 cm/sec) in the PCOS group was also significantly higher than the control group (0.7 +/- 0.2 cm/sec) (p = 0.015 cm/sec). PCOS is showed to influence sexual desire with an objective measurement. Since trying to obtain objective data about the level of sexual desire, questionnaires were not applied to the participants and no questions were asked. Conclusions: In our study, it was found that the clitoral artery pulsatility index, that is, the rate of resistance in the blood flow to the clitoral region, increased significantly in women with PCOS. This finding shows that the level of sexual desire in women with PCOS has decreased compared to healthy women.