Fig. 1.

Main clinical and metabolic manifestations of polycystic ovary syndrome according to women’s stage of life. Clinical manifestations of PCOS appear in adolescence, but the disease seems to be originated in the intra-uterine environment through developmental programming. Menstrual, hyperandrogenic, and reproductive manifestations change to metabolic alterations as age advances, thus affecting this syndrome from the beginning of life to its end. IUGR: intrauterine growth retardation; SGA: small for gestational age