Gynecologic and obstetric investigation

Endometriotic implants, like other estrogen-dependent tumors, contain both estrogen receptors and aromatase cytochrome P450 (P450arom), suggesting that at a local level, endometriotic implants produce estrogens, which may be involved in tis…

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the degree of fibrosis in the stroma of peritoneal endometriosis, according to the macroscopic appearance. METHODS: Red and black lesions of peritoneal endometriosis were collected and type-I collagen was immunohisto…

The proliferative activity and angiogenic factors of pelvic endometriosis and uterine endometrium and their correlation with different pigmented lesions are important throughout the menstrual cycle. The proliferative activity and/or express…

It has been assumed that endometriosis is a progressive disease, with growth and development of lesions being inevitable once the disease has started. The implantation and the metaplasia theories describe the mechanism of initiation of endo…

Natural killer (NK) cell activity in patients treated with gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists (GnRH-a) was studied. The subjects were 8 patients with endometriosis (6 with ovarian endometrial cyst, 2 with adenomyosis) and 3 patients wi…

Defects in the cell-mediated immune system may play a role in the pathogenesis or progression of pelvic endometriosis. Possible mediators include macrophages, interleukins-1 and -6, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha. More recent work points t…

Ovarian endometrial cysts, one of the typical manifestations of endometriosis, are classified as tumor-like lesions rather than as neoplasms. Clonality analysis provides important information on the histogenesis and progression of neoplasti…

Endometrial expression of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-3, MMP-7 and MMP-11 occurs during menstrual breakdown and subsequent estrogen-mediated growth, but not during the secretory phase. These enzymes are suppressed by progesterone treatme…

Peritoneal fluid is a specific microenvironment. It originates mainly as an ovarian exudation product due to increased vascular permeability, and contains large amounts of macrophages and their secretion products, which include growth facto…

OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that prolactin (PRL) acts as a mitogenic growth factor for human leiomyoma and myometrial cells. METHODS: To test this hypothesis, we performed three different types of experiments. First, we assessed whet…

Peritoneal fluid in women with endometriosis contains an increased number of activated macrophages that secrete a variety of cytokines, including interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, vascular endothelial growth factor, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha …

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of danazol in reducing the volume of fibromyomas and in the treatment of associated symptoms. Twenty women (34-42 years) with uterine fibromyomas were treated with 400 mg/day of danazol for …

Reports in the literature of an increasing incidence of endometriosis in industrialized countries and increasing problems with pollution in these countries leads to speculation about a possible link between one of the most harmful component…

Environmental contaminants that are known to disrupt steroid action can influence the development of reproductive diseases. Our group has focused on whether 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD or dioxin) can disrupt steroid regulation…

If bleeding disorders, which could not be treated by modification of steroid dosages, occurred during sequential hormone replacement therapy (HRT), most of the patients stopped HRT. In these cases a diagnostic outpatient hysteroscopy with b…

GnRH analogues have been demonstrated to be effective medical therapy for symptomatic endometriosis. The use of these agents has been limited to 6 months due to hypoestrogenic side effects. A variety of steroidal and nonsteroidal add-back r…

We evaluated angiogenesis in eutopic endometrium and ectopic endometrium from patients with endometriosis. Microvessels were identified by immunohistochemistry using anti-von-Willebrand factor antibody and vascular parameters were measured …

Cervical ripening at term resembles an inflammatory reaction with invasion of activated granulocytes into the cervical stroma. Our objective was to investigate the influence of the antigestagen onapristone alone and in combination with othe…

CA-125 is abundantly secreted from ovarian endometriotic cysts, but is not specific to endometriosis. In order to develop a new, more specific diagnostic marker for endometriosis, the iron concentrations in various ovarian cysts were assaye…

We report a prospective pilot study which evaluated the feasibility of combined ultrasonographically guided drainage and laparoscopic excision after pre-operative administration of a gonadotrophin-releasing hormone analogue for 3 months in …

OBJECTIVE: To study the uterine cavity after thermal endometrial destruction for the treatment of menorrhagia by means of a balloon catheter, the Cavaterm system. To relate the appearance of the uterine cavity to the outcome of the treatmen…

OBJECTIVE: To define the clinical presentation and follow-up of women found to have endosalpingiosis. METHODS: Subjects included for retrospective study were identified as having had a pathologic diagnosis of endosalpingiosis. Those subjec…

Adenomyosis is an ectopic endometrial tissue located in the myometrium. It has been reported to develop at a higher rate among postmenopausal breast cancer patients on tamoxifen (TAM) treatment than in untreated patients. It has also been r…

Pelvic pain is a common debilitating condition. Most investigations are invasive, expensive and usually negative. Although a positive diagnosis of endometriosis justifies a recognized treatment programme, the majority of women with negative…

We performed an immunohistochemical study on paraffin-embedded tissues to evaluate the invasion pattern of endometriotic implants by determination of matrix metalloproteinase (gelatinase A) expression. Endometriotic tissues (n=32) and uteri…