A new study published in Reproductive BioMedicine Online reports improvement in pain symptoms, fertility outcomes, and overall patient satisfaction rates following surgical resection of bowel endometriosis in women with infertility. Continue Reading

Introduction

Endometriosis, a common gynecological condition and a leading cause of infertility, affects around 2-10% of reproductive-aged women in the US, with a global prevalence of 0.5-5% and 25-40% in fertile and infertile women, respectively.1 Although most studies have established the association between endometriosis and infertility, there is a lack of sufficient understanding regarding a direct cause-and-effect link, particularly in early disease, when the pelvic anatomy is not disrupted. Hence, there also remains some ambiguity about the optimal management strategy for endometriosis-associated infertility. Continue Reading

A recent study reports that altered homeobox A10 (HOXA10) gene expression in the mid-secretory endometrium could play a role in infertility associated with endometriosis and uterine fibroids, as well as unexplained infertility. The findings, published in the recent issue of the journal Human Reproduction, suggest that the gene could be a potential target for new generation infertility treatments. Continue Reading

Endometriosis, with a prevalence of 25-40% in infertile and 0.5-5% in fertile women, lacks a reliable and non-invasive test for its diagnosis, which results in an average delay of 6-10 years before confirmed diagnosis and treatment. A recent double blinded study has reported the efficacy of a test with high sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of endometriosis, which uses immunohistochemical techniques to detect nerve fibers in endometrial biopsy samples. The findings of the study, which claim that the endometrial biopsy probably has similar accuracy to laparoscopic assessment, have been published in the online edition of the journal, Human Reproduction. Continue Reading