Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine  2014;41(1):29-32

doi:10.5653/cerm.2014.41.1.29

Causes of amenorrhea in Korea: Experience of a single large center.

Su Kyoung KWON 1 ; Hee Dong CHAE ; Kyung Hee LEE ; Sung Hoon KIM ; Chung Hoon KIM ; Byung Moon KANG

Affiliations

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Keywords

Amenorrhea; Gonadal dysgenesis; Polycystic ovary syndrome; Causes

Country

Republic of Korea

Language

English

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the causes of amenorrhea in Korean women. METHODS: Medical records from 1,212 women with amenorrhea who visited the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Asan Medical Center, between January 1989 and December 2011 were retrospectively reviewed. Amenorrhea was categorized as either primary or secondary. RESULTS: Primary amenorrhea was identified in 132 of the patients (10.9%) and secondary amenorrhea in 1,080 (89.1%). The most frequent causes of primary amenorrhea were gonadal dysgenesis (28.0%, 37/132); Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser syndrome (20.0%, 27/132); and constitutional delay and androgen insensitivity syndrome (8.3%, 11/132; 8.3%, 11/132, respectively). Secondary amenorrhea was due to polycystic ovary syndrome (48.4%, 523/1,080); premature ovarian insufficiency (14.0%, 151/1,080); and nutrition-related hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (8.3%, 90/1,080). CONCLUSION: In this retrospective study, gonadal dysgenesis was the most common cause of primary amenorrhea and polycystic ovary syndrome was the most common cause of secondary amenorrhea in Korean women.