Are polycystic ovaries and ovarian cysts the same thing?

Speaking of polycystic ovary syndrome and ovarian cysts, these two diseases are the most common types of diseases that occur in the female ovaries. So, are PCOS and ovarian cysts the same thing?

Polycystic ovary syndrome

It is a common disease caused by complex endocrine and metabolic abnormalities in women of childbearing age, characterized by chronic anovulation (ovulation dysfunction or loss) and hyperandrogenism (excess production of male hormones in women). The main clinical manifestations are irregular menstrual cycles, infertility, hirsutism and/or acne. It is the most common female endocrine disease.

In 1935, Stein and Leventhal summarized the four major symptoms of amenorrhea, hirsutism, obesity and infertility, which were called Stein-Leventhal syndrome (SL syndrome). PCOS patients have enlarged ovaries, thickened tunica albuginea, multiple follicles at different stages of development, and luteinized granulosa cells. PCOS is an important risk factor for type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, gestational diabetes, pregnancy-induced hypertension, and endometrial cancer. The clinical phenotype of PCOS is diverse, and the cause is currently unclear. PCOS often shows familial clustering, suggesting the role of genetic factors. Patients often have mothers with irregular menstruation or fathers with premature baldness; premature baldness is the male phenotype of PCOS, and female PCOS and male premature baldness may be determined by the same allele; hyperandrogenism and/or hyperinsulinemia may be genetic characteristics that family members of PCOS patients also suffer from; family analysis studies conducted under different diagnostic criteria often suggest that the inheritance mode of PCOS is autosomal dominant; however, studies using the "single gene-variant expression model" have shown that PCOS is caused by major gene mutations and 50% can be inherited by offspring.

Ovarian cysts

It is a type of ovarian tumor in a broad sense. It can occur in people of all ages, but is most common in those aged 20 to 50 years. Ovarian tumors are common tumors of the female reproductive system and have various properties and morphologies, namely: unilateral or bilateral, cystic or solid, benign or malignant, among which cystic ones are more common and have a certain proportion of malignant ones.