ENDOMETRIOSIS

Endometriosis is important because of the pain and disability it causes and because in many patients it causes sterility. The incidence of reported cases is increasing, but whether this represents a real increase or is due to increased recognition of the condition is not clear.1There are still conflicting views about its cause and treatment, and, although none of them satisfactorily explain the cause in all cases, the most popular theory is that some endometrial cells during menstruation flow back through the oviducts into the pelvic cavity. Experiments on monkeys have established the fact that such cells are viable and are capable of producing endometriosis.1This theory does not, however, explain the occurrence of similar lesions in more distant parts of the body. According to another theory endometriosis arises from a metaplasia of the celomic epithelium.2This theory best explains the lesions found at some distance from