Seminars in reproductive endocrinology

Cessation of ovarian estrogen secretion is the key event during the climacteric. An enzyme termed aromatase in a number of human tissues and cells, including ovarian granulosa cells, the placental syncytiotrophoblast, adipose and skin fibro…

Uterine endometrial epithelial cells undergo profound changes in structure and function in preparation for blastocyst implantation. The dynamics of this process for human endometrium can be studied only in cell culture. Primary cell culture…

Our central hypothesis proposes that oxidatively damaged red blood cells (RBCs), apoptotic endometrial cells or undigested endometrial tissue may signal the recruitment and activation of mononuclear phagocytes. Women with endometriosis are …

Although a limited number of drugs make up the mainstay of treatment of endometriosis, many alternative medications have been used in an attempt to improve efficacy. Some have been rigorously evaluated and are of proven benefit, while other…

Endometriosis remains a significant cause of pain and ill health for women and is a significant factor in reducing quality of life for women. The ability of desquamated endometrium to attach and implant within the peritoneal cavity is depen…

The absolute risk of endometrioid carcinoma of the ovary is very small. When endometriosis is left behind at the time of hysterectomy, there may be increased risk and difficulties in hormone replacement management.

Classification systems for endometriosis continue to evolve. Past systems have been modeled primarily after those in use for grading malignant disease. Unfortunately, classification methods that attempted to quantitate the severity of disea…

The diagnosis of endometriosis is based on the presence of endometrial-like tissue outside the uterine cavity and direct or indirect evidence of cyclic bleeding. Clinically three entities can be distinguished: the peritoneal implant, the en…

The proper function of the normal human endometrium relies on well organized cell-cell interactions regulated locally by cytokines and growth factors under the direction of steroid hormones. The onset and progression of the disease processe…

The contrasting findings obtained in the studies that have attempted to correlate the stage of endometriosis with severity of pain symptoms suggest that some specific characteristics of the lesions are more implicated in the genesis of pain…

Endometriosis is classically defined as the growth of endometrial cells at sites outside the uterus. It is a common disease characterized by infertility, chronic pain and adhesion formation. Immune dysregulation, evidenced by decreased clea…

Endometriosis is a disease that affects about 5% of women of reproductive age, but is found much more frequently in those with pelvic pain and/or infertility. In affected individuals, shed endometrium is thought to attach and spread within …

It is likely that endometriosis is a common multifactorial disease, like diabetes and asthma, caused by an interaction between multiple gene loci and the environment. Such conditions do not have a clear Mendelian pattern of inheritance. Thi…

There are many hypotheses concerning the pathogenesis of endometriosis, though no single theory can explain all cases. It is likely that several mechanisms are involved. Early studies concentrated on the histogenesis of the endometriotic le…

Agonistic analogs of GnRH have emerged as effective drugs in the treatment of pelvic pain associated with endometriosis. Iatrogenic hypoestrogenism is the fundamental mechanism through which GnRH agonists induce regression of the exquisitel…

Endometriosis is a painful recurring disease for which there are several treatments but little or no clinical guides for optimal application. In order to more appropriately treat these patients, we need to take a more holistic long-term app…

The choice of treatment options for endometriosis-associated infertility has been both controversial and complex, largely because of lack of data. In the last 10 years, better data from numerous studies with improved design support laparosc…

Controlled ovarian hyperstimulation is frequently employed as empiric therapy for the treatment of unexplained infertility, mild male factor, cervical factor, and treated endometriosis. Prescribed in the form of either clomiphene citrate or…