Transabdominal or transvaginal ultrasound scans were carried out in the first week of the
follicular phase of the menstrual cycle on 542 consecutive women attending the
gynaecology endocrine clinic held twice weekly at the Professorial Unit, De Soysa Hospital
for Women (DSHW). There were 337 diagnosed as PCOS by clinical and or biochemical
features alone and 205 controls. The presence of polycystic ovaries (PCO) and PCOS were
diagnosed based on international consensus definition (Rotterdam 2003).The sensitivity,
specificity, positive and negative predictive values were then determined for differing
ovarian volumes, numbers of follicles and sizes of the largest follicle required to detect
polycystic ovaries (PCO), from which their diagnostic thresholds were calculated. The
proportion of women having PCO among PCOS and control groups was also calculated.
The highest sensitivity and specificity to detect polycystic ovaries in the cohort of Lankan
women was observed as 6 cm3 for ovarian volume, 10 for number of follicles and 2mm to
9mm for size of follicles. Mean ± (95th confidence intervals, CI) of endometrial thickness
was 4.2mm ± 1.35 in women with PCOS and 2.3mm ± 0.84 in the control group. P value
