Bariatric surgery can improve cardiometabolic health in women with polycystic ovary syndrome and obesity, according to findings of a retrospective cohort study presented here.

McAnto Antony, MBBS, a second-year resident at Medstar Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C., and colleagues evaluated data from Medstar facilities on 19 women with PCOS (mean age, 18.4 years; 53% black; 41% white; 6% Asian) who had undergone a bariatric surgical procedure. The most common procedure was gastric sleeve, followed by lap band with fewer Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, according to Antony. Researchers compared BMI, blood pressure, HbA1c, and triglyceride and HDL levels before and at least 6 months after surgery (mean time between surgery and follow-up, 7.9 months).

McAnto Antony

Compared with presurgical values, postsurgical reductions were observed in body weight (mean, 271 kg vs. 205.4 kg; P< .0001), BMI (mean, 45.9 kg/m² vs. 35 kg/m²; P < .0001), systolic BP (mean, 133.4 mm Hg vs. 119.5 mm Hg; P = .0002), diastolic BP (mean, 81.9 mm Hg vs. 73.1 mm Hg; P= .007), triglycerides (mean, 143.2 mg/dL vs. 111.5 mg/dL; P = .04) and HbA1c (mean 6.6% vs. 5.8%; P = .03); mean HDL level increased (44.8 mg/dL vs. 52.5 mg/dL; P = 0.04). Before surgery, participants had a mean 2.7 components of metabolic syndrome on average, which decreased to 1.9 after their procedure (P < .01). Forty-seven percent of participants had at least three of the five components of metabolic syndrome, meeting criteria for the condition, before surgery. Following surgery, prevalence dropped to 21%.

“Bariatric surgery is definitely an option in the obese woman with PCOS to reduce her risk of developing cardiovascular disease in the future,” Antony told Endocrine Today. “ – by Jill Rollet