Progress on predictive factors for the diagnosis of endometriosis

Endometriosis (EMS) is a common disease affecting women of reproductive age. It may cause pelvic pain, infertility and decreased quality of life. Since it is difficult to diagnosis at early onset, the average time delayed from onset of symptoms until diagnosis of EMS is 3.3-12.1 years. The poor understanding of its pathogenetic mechanism and the scarcity of sensitive blood biomarkers are associated with this delay of diagnosis for EMS. In recent years, predictive models based on pain, infertility and operation history, etc., boost up the progress in this field. This article reviews the latest progress on the clinical manifestations of EMS, serum markers and predictive models, in order to provide some new ideas and new information to help early diagnosis of EMS. Key words: Endometriosis (EMS); Delayed diagnosis; Clinical manifestation; Blood biomarker; Predictive model