For the full versions of these articles see bmj.com CLINICAL REVIEW Management of hirsutism Olympia Koulouri, Gerard S Conway Department of Endocrinology, Hirsutism is the presence of excess hair growth in that secrete androgens are rare and tend to cause severe University College London women, and the term usually refers to excessive hirsutism. Adrenal tumours usually co-secrete cortisol Hospitals, London NW1 2PQ growth of terminal hair in an androgen dependent dis- and the clinical picture is that of Cushing’s syndrome. Correspondence to: G S Conway
[email protected] tribution. Although it is often thought to be a cosmetic At the time of the menopause, hair growth is pro- problem, unwanted hair growth adversely affects psy- moted by a fall in the production of ovarian oestradiol Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:b847 chological wellbeing.1 It can have a similar effect on but relatively well maintained testosterone production. doi:10.1136/bmj.b847 quality of life scores to that of asthma, epilepsy, and In some instances, rising concentrations of luteinising diabetes,2 and effective treatments reverse these hormone lead to stromal hyperplasia, high testoster- adverse scores.3 one concentrations, and severe menopausal hirsutism. Several new treatments have emerged in recent years, including the wider availability of laser depilation, topi- What aspects of the history and examination are cal suppressors of hair growth (eflornithene), and a pro- important? gestogen with antiandrogenic properties (drospirenone). For research purposes, hair growth can be measured In this review, we assess the evidence base for new treat- using a scoring system established by Ferriman and ments in the context of established treatments, although Gallwey.5 In clinical practice, subjective assessment is the worldwide availability of these preparations varies usually adequate, although personal perception of greatly.