Teede announces Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome after 14 years

Polycystic ovary syndrome has been renamed polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome after 14 years of global collaboration. Helena Teede announced the change in Prague on Tuesday, and the new name was published in the Lancet.

The condition affects one in eight women and is estimated to impact 170 million women worldwide. Teede said the old term “directs attention to only one organ” and said the new name “moves away from the incorrect focus on cysts … to recognising this is a much broader condition.”

Helena Teede in Prague

Teede, an endocrinologist and director of Melbourne’s Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation, said the former name did not capture the “multi-system burden that people with this condition have suffered.” She also said, “There are no abnormal cysts in PCOS,” while the new name is intended to reflect effects on the reproductive system, metabolism, and the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

The renaming followed work by international societies and patient groups across six continents. The new term, PMOS, replaces a label that experts said could be misleading when ovaries do not appear polycystic.

Maddy Mavrikis and diagnosis

Maddy Mavrikis was diagnosed with PCOS at 15 and said her GP told her she would probably never have children. She later learned that was not true. She had irregular periods, acne and excessive hair growth, and a blood test showed high levels of androgens.

Her ultrasound did not show polycystic ovaries. Mavrikis said, “I never had – and still don’t have – cysts on my ovaries, so never really understood why I was diagnosed with ‘polycystic ovaries,’” and added, “I still want to scream.”

About 85% of women with PCOS have insulin resistance. The name change gives patients and clinicians a term that matches the disorder more closely, while leaving the diagnosis and treatment needs unchanged.