Antral follicle count is reduced in the presence of endometriosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Zhao Tian, Zhang Y, Yang Zhang, Chen Zhang, Zhang C, Yue Wang, Wang Y, Honglan Zhu, Hong-Lan Zhu, Zhu HL
Reproductive BioMedicine Online · 2020 · vol. 42(1) , pp. 237–247 · doi:10.1016/j.rbmo.2020.09.014 · PMID:33168492 · W3087749505
review OA: bronze CC0 ⤵ 46 in-corpus citations
🔓 Open OA copy View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by gemini-2.5-flash-lite, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

This systematic review and meta-analysis found that endometriosis is associated with a reduced antral follicle count, indicating potential impacts on ovarian reserve.

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

Abstract

Studies suggest that the presence of endometriosis may lead to impaired ovarian reserve, while results evaluating the changes in antral follicle count (AFC) in endometriosis remain controversial. A systematic search returned 15 studies, of which nine compared AFC between patients with and without endometriosis, five articles reported differences in AFC between affected and unaffected ovaries in patients with unilateral ovarian endometriosis and one reported both of the above two situations. Overall results showed a significant decrease in AFC and anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) and increase in serum FSH concentrations in patients with endometriosis when compared with controls. Additionally, the AFC for the ovary with the endometrioma was also significantly lower than that of the contralateral ovary in patients with unilateral ovarian endometriosis. Moreover, it appears that the AFC in patients with endometriosis where the ovaries are not affected or in early stage were not significantly different in the control group. These findings demonstrate that endometriosis is associated with reduced AFC and AMH and elevated serum concentrations of FSH, suggesting a reduction in ovarian reserve in patients with endometriosis, especially in those with ovarian endometrioma and advanced stage.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Ovarian Reserve Female Humans Ovarian Follicle Ovarian Follicle

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 (60)

Cited by (49)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-08-17T06:11:01.428247+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-05-13T22:21:36.268089+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK