CLINICAL REVIEW Endometriosis Follow the link from the online version of this article to obtain certi ed continuing 1 2 3 medical education credits Martha Hickey, Karen Ballard, Cindy Farquhar 1 Endometriosis is a relatively common and potentially Department of Obstetrics and SOURCES AND SELECTION CRITERIA Gynaecology, University of debilitating condition affecting women of reproductive We searched Medline and Pubmed, used personal archives Melbourne and the Royal Women’s age. Prevalence is difficult to determine, firstly because of Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, of references, and consulted with other experts to inform Australia 3052 variability in clinical presentation, and, secondly because this manuscript. When available, data from systematic 2Faculty of Health and Medical the only reliable diagnostic test is laparoscopy, when endo- reviews and randomised controlled trials were used. We Sciences, University of Surrey, metriotic deposits can be visualised and histologically also used expert guidelines such as the recent European Guildford, Surrey, UK Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) 3 confirmed. Population based studies report a prevalence Department of Obstetrics and consensus.4 Gynaecology, University of of around 1.5% compared with 6-15% in hospital based 1 Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand studies. Endometriosis can be asymptomatic, but those Correspondence to: M Hickey with symptoms generally present early in reproductive What are the causes of endometriosis?
[email protected] life and improve after menopause. Symptomatic endome- The pathogenesis of endometriosis is unknown, but lead- Cite this as: BMJ 2104;348:g1752 triosis can result in long term adverse effects on personal ing theories include retrograde menstruation, altered doi: 10.1136/bmj.g1752 relationships, quality of life, and work productivity.