ABSTRACT
Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are plagued by a variety of peripheral androgen-excess disorders, including hirsutism, acne and androgenic alopecia. These all originate in the pilosebaceous unit (PSU), the common skin structure that gives rise to both hair follicles and sebaceous glands (Figure 10.1). Androgen excess most commonly leads to hirsutism, or what is referred to as androgen-dependent hirsutism. This concept may be too simplistic to explain pathological states of the PSU such as hirsutism,
Figure 10.1 Diagram of a pilosebaceous unit.
