Increased Risk of Thrombosis in Patients with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome
Authors: Miller Mariel , Khanipov Kamil K. , Zahner Christopher , Golovko George K. 
Published: December 2023

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrine-metabolic disorder in reproductive age women, with an estimated prevalence of 6-12% of assigned female at birth women in the US. We identified a pattern in our coagulation diagnostic management team, wherein women with PCOS had increased rates of and repeated histories of thrombotic events, such as strokes, heart attacks, pulmonary embolisms, and deep vein thromboses. However, clinical coagulation assays on these PCOS patients with repeated thrombotic events were all within the normal reference range. Our goal was to investigate the validity of this pattern and its occurrence in both local and national populations. This was accomplished by 1) Determining the incidence rate of thrombosis in PCOS and 2) Analyzing clinical presentations of thrombosis in PCOS.

Methods/Study populations : Analyses on the rate of thrombotic events in PCOS patients locally at UTMB and in the US were performed on the TriNetX health research network. Using the incidence and prevalence and compared outcomes analytic functions on TriNetX, we determined the rate of thrombosis from 2013-2018 and explored patient characteristics. We further analyzed thrombosis in PCOS with the Symptom-Disease Pair Analysis of Diagnostic Error (SPADE) method. Through the compare outcomes analysis on the TriNetX platform, we looked at PCOS and control patients who experienced thrombotic events between 2013-2018 and analyzed clinical presentations that occurred in the 90 days prior to the index event. Patient queries included the diagnostic code for PCOS, ICD10 E28.2, women age 15-75, who had a clinical encounter since 2013. Exclusion criteria included inherited thrombotic disorders, smoking history, and human immunodeficiency virus. Events of interest included myocardial infarctions, cerebral infarctions, pulmonary embolisms, arterial embolisms and thrombosis, and portal vein thromboses.

Statistical analysis: For evaluating statistical significance of the rate of thrombosis, we performed a compare outcome analysis on the UTMB network, with propensity score matching for current age. A Kaplan-Meier Analysis and a student's t-test were performed on the number of instances/events, and statistical significance was defined as a p-value &lt;0.0001.

Results:Between 2013-2018, the incidence rate of thrombosis in PCOS patients was 4.35% with 5.36% prevalence, this was statistically significantly higher than the control cohort at 2.66% incidence and 3.5% prevalence. The incidence rate of thrombosis in PCOS increased dramatically in post-menopausal women. Of the 60 outcomes investigated, 24 were determined to be statistically significant between control and PCOS, 22 symptoms and 2 procedures.

Discussion: This is the first study to analyze the rate of thrombotic events in PCOS. We identified significant presentations and gaps that could assist in the early detection of thrombotic events in PCOS. However, the mechanisms of thrombosis in PCOS are unknown and are poorly detected with current clinical assays. Future studies will examine clinical assays in the detection of thrombosis in PCOS and investigate thrombotic mechanisms in PCOS.