Adenomyosis: new knowledge is generating new treatment strategies

Benagiano G, Giuseppe Benagiano, Brosens I, Ivo Brosens, Carrara S, Sabina Carrara
Women's health (London, England) · 2009 · vol. 5(3) , pp. 297–311 · doi:10.2217/whe.09.7 · PMID:19392615 · W2079161137
Review OA: gold CC0 ⤵ 26 in-corpus citations
📄 Open PDF View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by gemini-2.5-flash-lite, 2026-06-08 ⓘ

Adenomyosis, characterized by junctional zone thickening, may arise alongside endometriosis from altered angiogenesis, and new treatments targeting angiogenesis and hormone release show promising results.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

In the early days, all mucosal invasions of abdominal organs were considered to be one pathological condition of uncertain origin, termed adenomyoma. It was only in the 1920s that endometriosis and adenomyosis were clearly separated and it took approximately 80 years to put forward a new theory reunifying their pathogenesis. Today, identification of adenomyosis is carried out exclusively through vaginal ultrasonography and MRI. These techniques have made a careful evaluation of a distinct anatomical structure and the inner myometrial layers underlying the endometrium, termed the junctional zone, possible. Adenomyosis is characterized by a homogeneous thickening of this portion of the myometrium. When this hyperplasia is associated to an alteration of spiral arterioles' angiogenesis, then both adenomyosis and endometriosis may develop. Evidence is being accumulated that pre-eclampsia, fetal growth restriction and premature delivery may be linked, together representing a new, major obstetrical syndrome characterized by a modified uterine environment around the time of nidation. A dozen different medical or surgical techniques are utilized for the treatment of adenomyosis and novel approaches are being tested. These include use of inhibitors of angiogenesis that have been shown to cause reduced neo-angiogenesis, a significant modification of gene expression and a decrease in the percentage of active lesions. Encouraging results have also been obtained with the levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

endometriosisadenomyosis

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Female Female Humans Humans Infertility, Female Infertility, Female Infertility, Female Menstruation Menstruation Menstruation Myometrium Myometrium Myometrium Pregnancy

Citation neighborhood

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

References (77)

Cited by (26)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-10-14T06:08:39.101224+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-10-08T21:06:23.467768+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK