Adenomyosis and fertility: a modern view of the problem. A literature review

In: Journal of obstetrics and women's diseases · 2022 · vol. 71(1) , pp. 109–118 · doi:10.17816/jowd78939 · W4220694269
review OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 2 in-corpus citations
Full text JSON View on OpenAlex View at publisher
AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07

Adenomyosis, a common uterine pathology, negatively impacts fertility by reducing blastocyst implantation, embryo development, and assisted reproductive technology success, while increasing pregnancy and bleeding risks.

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

AI-generated deep summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07 · read from full text

This paper is a literature review examining how adenomyosis affects fertility and reproductive outcomes, drawing on searches of CyberLeninka, PubMed, MedArt, and a central medical library. It describes potential mechanisms whereby local inflammation in adenomyosis reduces blastocyst implantation and creates an unfavorable embryo-development environment, and it reports that adenomyosis lowers the effectiveness of assisted reproductive technology while increasing risks during pregnancy, childbirth, and the early postpartum period, including incomplete/prolonged pregnancy and massive hemorrhage. A key limitation acknowledged in the review is that it synthesizes evidence over the past decade rather than presenting new experimental or systematic, uniform analyses. This paper is centrally about endometriosis and/or adenomyosis — it focuses specifically on adenomyosis and its impact on fertility and pregnancy outcomes.

Read from the paper's body, not the abstract. Not a substitute for reading the paper. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

This literature review is based on resources from the following databases: CyberLeninka, PubMed, MedArt, and the Central Scientific Medical Library (I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russia). Adenomyosis is a common non-infectious uterine pathology associated with the risk of infertility and obstetric problems. The local inflammation that develops in adenomyosis reduces the probability of blastocyst implantation and creates an unfavorable environment for the development of the embryo. Adenomyosis reduces the effectiveness of assisted reproductive technology. During the pregnancy in adenomyosis, the risk of incomplete and prolonged pregnancy increases at almost all stages. Besides, the risk of massive hemorrhage increases during pregnancy, childbirth and the early postpartum period. The presented review helps to assess the pathogenetic mechanisms underlying the negative effect of adenomyosis on womens fertility based on data obtained over the past ten years.
Full text 17,069 characters · extracted from oa-doi-fallback · 2 sections · click to expand

Abstract

This literature review is based on resources from the following databases: CyberLeninka, PubMed, MedArt, and the Central Scientific Medical Library (I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russia). Adenomyosis is a common non-infectious uterine pathology associated with the risk of infertility and obstetric problems. The local inflammation that develops in adenomyosis reduces the probability of blastocyst implantation and creates an unfavorable environment for the development of the embryo. Adenomyosis reduces the effectiveness of assisted reproductive technology. During the pregnancy in adenomyosis, the risk of incomplete and prolonged pregnancy increases at almost all stages. Besides, the risk of massive hemorrhage increases during pregnancy, childbirth and the early postpartum period. The presented review helps to assess the pathogenetic mechanisms underlying the negative effect of adenomyosis on women’s fertility based on data obtained over the past ten years.

Keywords

Full Text About the authors Vitaly F. Bezhenar Academician I.P. Pavlov First Saint Petersburg State Medical University Author for correspondence. Email: [email protected] ORCID iD: 0000-0002-7807-4929 SPIN-code: 8626-7555 ResearcherId: R-7055-2017 MD, Dr. Sci. (Med.), Professor Russian Federation, 6-8, L’va Tolstogo St., Saint Petersburg, 197022Viktor A. Linde Academician I.P. Pavlov First Saint Petersburg State Medical University Email: [email protected] ORCID iD: 0000-0002-6032-1936 Scopus Author ID: 56825712100 MD, Dr. Sci. (Med.), Professor Russian Federation, 6-8, L’va Tolstogo St., Saint Petersburg, 197022Byuzand V. Arakelyan Academician I.P. Pavlov First Saint Petersburg State Medical University Email: [email protected] ORCID iD: 0000-0002-2868-7997 MD, Dr. Sci. (Med.), Assistant Professor Russian Federation, 6-8, L’va Tolstogo St., Saint Petersburg, 197022Alla S. Kalugina Academician I.P. Pavlov First Saint Petersburg State Medical University Email: [email protected] ORCID iD: 0000-0002-4796-7812 ResearcherId: B-6355-2016 MD, Dr. Sci. (Med.), Professor Russian Federation, 6-8, L’va Tolstogo St., Saint Petersburg, 197022Yuri V. Vasilyev Saint Petersburg State Pediatric Medical University Email: [email protected] ORCID iD: 0000-0001-5102-1774 MD, Cand. Sci. (Med.), Assistant Professor Russian Federation, Saint PetersburgDarya A. Sobakina City Alexandrovskaya Hospital Email: [email protected] ORCID iD: 0000-0002-4610-4126 MD Russian Federation, Saint PetersburgElmina E. Sadykhova Academician I.P. Pavlov First Saint Petersburg State Medical University Email: [email protected] ORCID iD: 0000-0003-1157-7801 MD Russian Federation, 6-8, L’va Tolstogo St., Saint Petersburg, 197022Viktoria A. Tarasenkova City Alexandrovskaya Hospital Email: [email protected] ORCID iD: 0000-0003-2405-2780 MD Russian Federation, Saint PetersburgReferences - Kogan EA, Paramonova NB, Shklyar AA, et al. Clinical and morphological features of focal, nodular and diffuse forms of adenomyosis. Archive of Obstetrics and Gynecology named after VF Snegirev. 2016;3(1):18−22. (In Russ.). doi: 10.18821/2313-8726-2016-3-1-18-22 - Linde VA, Tatarova NA. Endometrioses. Moscow: GEOTAR-Medicine; 2010. - Jendometrioz. Klinicheskie rekomendacii. Moscow, 2020. [cited 5 Dec 2021]. Available from: https://www.dzhmao.ru/spez/klin_recom/akushGinekol/2020/KR_259_endometrioz.pdf - Gorpenko AA, Chuprynin VD, Buralkin NA, Safronova AS. Improvement in methods of surgical treatment of adenomyosis diffuse nodular form. Medical council. 2019;21:240−245. doi: 10.21518/2079-701X2019-21-254-259 - Abaykhanova LM. Uterine adenomyosis − symptoms and treatment. In: Science. Education. Innovations: Collection of scientific papers based on the materials of the XII International Scientific and Practical Conference. Anapa; 2019:51−54. [cited 6 Dec 2021]. Available from: https://innova-science.ru/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/sbornik-nauchnyh-trudov-12.11.2019-noi-12.pdf - Dobrynina ML, Batrak NV, Kryazheva EO, Malyshkina AI. Techniques of adenomyosis diagnosis: peculiarities of application and efficacy. Bulletin of the Ivanovo Medical Academy. 2020;25(1):43−45. - Pomortsev AV, Grushevskaya YuV, Makukhina TB. Controversial issues of radiation diagnosis of adenomyosis in patients with reproductive losses. Kuban Scientific Medical Bulletin. 2019;(2):173−190. doi: 10.25207/1608-6228-2019-26-2-173-190 - Adamjan LV, Andreeva EN, Apolihina IA, et al. Sochetannye dobrokachestvennye opuholi i giperplasticheskie processy matki (mioma, adenomioz, giperplazija jendometrija). Moscow; 2015. - Di Donato N, Montanari G, Benfenati A, et al. Prevalence of adenomyosis in women undergoing surgery for endometriosis. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol. 2014;181:289−293. doi: 10.1016/j.ejogrb.2014.08.016 - Struble J, Reid S, Bedaiwy MA. Adenomyosis: A clinical review of a challenging gynecologic condition. J Minim Invasive Gynecol. 2016;23(2):164−185. doi: 10.1016/j.jmig.2015.09.018 - Benagiano G, Brosens I, Habiba M. Adenomyosis: a life-cycle approach. Reprod Biomed Online. 2015;30(3):220−232. doi: 10.1016/j.rbmo.2014.11.005 - Pinzauti S, Lazzeri L, Tosti C, et al. Transvaginal sonographic features of diffuse adenomyosis in 18-30-year-old nulligravid women without endometriosis: association with symptoms. Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol. 2015;46(6):730−736. doi: 10.1002/uog.14834 - Benaglia L, Cardellicchio L, Leonardi M, et al. Asymptomatic adenomyosis and embryo implantation in IVF cycles. Reprod Biomed Online. 2014;29(5):606−611. doi: 10.1016/j.rbmo.2014.07.021 - Reznik MV, Tarasenkova VA, Sobakina DA, Linde VA. Adenomyosis and uterine fibroids in Terms of comorbidity (literature review). Journal of scientific articles “Health and education in the XXI century”. 2019;21(2):43−47. doi: 10.26787/nydha-2226-7425-2019-21-2-43-47 - Khan KN, Kitajima M, Hiraki K, et al. Involvement of hepatocyte growth factor-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition in human adenomyosis. Biol Reprod. 2015;92(2):35. doi: 10.1095/biolreprod.114.124891 - Kok VC, Tsai HJ, Su CF, Lee CK. The risks for ovarian, endometrial, breast, colorectal, and other cancers in women with newly diagnosed endometriosis or adenomyosis: A population-based study. Int J Gynecol Cancer. 2015;25(6):968−976. doi: 10.1097/IGC.0000000000000454 - Liu X, Shen M, Qi Q, et al. Corroborating evidence for platelet-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition and fibroblast-to-myofibroblast transdifferentiation in the development of adenomyosis. Hum Reprod. 2016;31(4):734−749. doi: 10.1093/humrep/dew018 - Streuli I, Santulli P, Chouzenoux S, et al. Activation of the MAPK/ERK cell-signaling pathway in uterine smooth muscle cells of women with adenomyosis. Reprod Sci. 2015;22(12):1549−1560. doi: 10.1177/1933719115589410 - Jiang JF, Sun AJ, Xue W, et al. Aberrantly expressed long noncoding RNAs in the eutopic endometria of patients with uterine adenomyosis. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol. 2016;199:32−37. doi: 10.1016/j.ejogrb.2016.01.033 - Benagiano G, Habiba M, Brosens I. The pathophysiology of uterine adenomyosis: an update. Fertil Steril. 2012;98(3):572−579. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2012.06.044 - Vannuccini S, Tosti C, Carmona F, et al. Pathogenesis of adenomyosis: an update on molecular mechanisms. Reprod Biomed Online. 2017;35(5):592−601. doi: 10.1016/j.rbmo.2017.06.016 - Spitzer TL, Rojas A, Zelenko Z, et al. Perivascular human endometrial mesenchymal stem cells express pathways relevant to self-renewal, lineage specification, and functional phenotype. Biol Reprod. 2012;86(2):58. doi: 10.1095/biolreprod.111.095885 - Davydov DA. Lejomioma i adenomioz: sushhestvuet li edinaja stvolovaja kletka-predshestvennica? Medicinskij zhurnal. 2013;3(45):132−134. (In Russ.) - Wang J, Deng X, Yang Y, et al. Expression of GRIM-19 in adenomyosis and its possible role in pathogenesis. Fertil Steril. 2016;105(4):1093−1101. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2015.12.019 - Shang WQ, Yu JJ, Zhu L, et al. Blocking IL-22, a potential treatment strategy for adenomyosis by inhibiting crosstalk between vascular endothelial and endometrial stromal cells. Am J Transl Res. 2015;7(10):1782−1797. - Dueholm M. Uterine adenomyosis and infertility, review of reproductive outcome after in vitro fertilization and surgery. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 2017;96(6):715−726. doi: 10.1111/aogs.13158 - Llarena N, Flyckt R. Strategies to preserve and optimize fertility for patients with rndometriosis. J Endom Pelvic Pain Dysord. 2017;9(2):98−104. doi: 10.5301/jeppd.5000278 - Jendometrioz: diagnostika, lechenie i reabilitacija. Pis’mo Minzdrava RF. 22.11.2013 No. 15-4/10/2-8710. [cited 06 Dec 2021]. Available from: http://zdrav.spb.ru/media/filebrowser/%D1%8D%D0%BD%D0%B4%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%B5%D1%82%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BE%D0%B7_%D0%B4%D0%B8%D0%B0%D0%B3%D0%BD%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B0%2C_%D0%BB%D0%B5%D1%87%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B5_%D0%B8_%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B0%D0%B1%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%86%D0%B8%D1%8F.pdf - Bezhenar’ VF, Kuz’mina NS, Kalugina AS. Besplodie pri jendometrioze. Patogeneticheskie aspekty. Pros & cons hirurgicheskogo podhoda k probleme i vspomogatel’nye reproduktivnye tehnologii. Jendometrioz. Patogenez, diagnostika, lechenie. Ed. by S.O. Dubrovina, V.F. Bezhenar’. Moscow: GJeOTAR-Media; 2020. P. 215–237. - Оrazov МR. Impairment of fertility in women with pain syndrome of adenomyosis. Health of Woman. 2014;(1):139−142. - Vercellini P, Consonni D, Barbara G, et al. Adenomyosis and reproductive performance after surgery for rectovaginal and colorectal endometriosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Reprod Biomed Online. 2014;28(6):704−713. doi: 10.1016/j.rbmo.2014.02.006 - Zhigalenko AR, Karakhalis LYu, Papova NS. Clinicodiagnostic parallels in adenomyosis-related infertility. Kuban Scientific Medical Bulletin. 2017;24(4):65−73. doi: 10.25207/1608-6228-2017-24-4-65-73 - Gordts S, Brosens JJ, Fusi L, et al. Uterine adenomyosis: a need for uniform terminology and consensus classification. Reprod Biomed Online. 2008;17(2):244−248. doi: 10.1016/s1472-6483(10)60201-5 - Gordts S, Grimbizis G, Campo R. Symptoms and classification of uterine adenomyosis, including the place of hysteroscopy in diagnosis. Fertil Steril. 2018;109(3):380−388.e1. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2018.01.006 - Harada T, Khine YM, Kaponis A, et al. The impact of adenomyosis on women’s fertility. Obstet Gynecol Surv. 2016;71(9):557−568. doi: 10.1097/OGX.0000000000000346 - Eisenberg VH, Arbib N, Schiff E, et al. Sonographic signs of adenomyosis are prevalent in women undergoing surgery for endometriosis and may suggest a higher risk of infertility. Biomed Res Int. 2017;2017:8967803. doi: 10.1155/2017/8967803 - Orekhova EK, Zhandarova OA, Kogan IYu. Reproductive outcomes in patients with thickening of the uterine J-zone (JZ). Journal of Obstetrics and Women’s Diseases. 2020;69(5):69−75. doi: 10.17816/JOWD69569-75 - Maignien C, Santulli P, Gayet V, et al. Prognostic factors for assisted reproductive technology in women with endometriosis-related infertility. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2017;216(3):280.e1−280.e9. doi: 10.1016/j.ajog.2016.11.1042 - Exacoustos C, Brienza L, Di Giovanni A, et al. Adenomyosis: three-dimensional sonographic findings of the junctional zone and correlation with histology. Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol. 2011;37(4):471−479. doi: 10.1002/uog.8900 - Luciano DE, Exacoustos C, Albrecht L, et al. Three-dimensional ultrasound in diagnosis of adenomyosis: histologic correlation with ultrasound targeted biopsies of the uterus. J Minim Invasive Gynecol. 2013;20(6):803−810. doi: 10.1016/j.jmig.2013.05.002 - Saremi A, Bahrami H, Salehian P, et al. Treatment of adenomyomectomy in women with severe uterine adenomyosis using a novel technique. Reprod Biomed Online. 2014;28(6):753−760. doi: 10.1016/j.rbmo.2014.02.008 - Posiseeva LV, Gerasimov AM, Petrova UL. Glycodelin in obstetric and gynecological practice: past, present, future. Problemy Reproduktsii. 2020;26(3):11−22. doi: 10.17116/repro20202603111 - Balkhanov YuS, Kulinich SI. Implications of glycodelig for the prognosis of pregnancy. Siberian Medical Journal. 2008;83(8):49−52. - Arthur LD, Anthony FW, Chard T, et al. Variations in concentrations of the major endometrial secretory proteins (placental protein 14 and insulin-like growth factor binding protein-1) in assisted conception regimes. Hum Reprod. 1995;10(3):664−666. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.humrep.a136007 - Olajide F, Chard T. Biologocal and clinical significance of the endometrial protein PP14 in reproductive endocrinology. Obstet Gynecol Surv. 1992;47(4):252−257. - En’kova EV, Gribanova VA, Voronina EV, Chernov AB. Immunologicheskie markery ugrozy preryvanija beremennosti. In: Modelirovanie i upravlenie processami v zdravoohranenii: mezhvuzovskij sbornik nauchnyh trudov. Voronezh; 2012. P. 101−104. - Mikhaleva LM, Boltovskaya MN, Mikhalev SA, et al. Endometrial dysfunction caused by chronic endometritis: сlinical and morphological aspects. Archive of Pathology. 2017;79(6):22−29. doi: 10.17116/patol201779622-29 - Huseynova ZS. Adenomyosis and reproductive disorders. In: International scientific review of the problems and prospects of modern science and education. International scientific review. 2019;(LV)84−87. [cited 5 Dec 2021]. Available from: https://www.elibrary.ru/download/elibrary_37234266_75471322.pdf - Gladchuk IZ, Rozhkovskaya NN, Garbuzenko ND, Stamova NA. Age-related features of uterine peristalsis in infertile women with adenomyosis, uterine fibroids and their combination. Health of Woman. 2016;(3):149−152. - Bergeron C, Amant F, Ferenczy A. Pathology and physiopathology of adenomyosis. Best Pract Res Clin Obstet Gynaecol. 2006;20(4):511−521. doi: 10.1016/j.bpobgyn.2006.01.016 - Kunz G, Herbertz M, Beil D, et al. Adenomyosis as a disorder of the early and late human reproductive period. Reprod Biomed Online. 2007;15(6):681−685. doi: 10.1016/s1472-6483(10)60535-4 - Kutsenko II, Avakimyan VA, Kravtsova EI, Tomina OV. Application of immunocorrection in complex pregnovative preparation for ivf in patients with adenomiosis 1-2 degrees. Meditsinsky Vestnik Yuga Rossii. 2017;8(4):61−67. doi: 10.21886/2219-8075-2017-8-4-61-67 - Graziano A, Lo Monte G, Piva I, et al. Diagnostic findings in adenomyosis: a pictorial review on the major concerns. Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci. 2015;19(7):1146−1154. - Kodaman P. Current strategies for endometriosis management. Obstet Gynecol Clin North Am. 2015;42(1):87–101. doi: 10.1016/j.ogc.2014.10.005 - Kozachenko IF, Adamyan LV. Reproductive function in patients with adenomyosis after organ-preserving operations. Obstetrics and gynecology: News. Opinions. Training. 2020;2(28):59−66. doi: 10.24411/2303-9698-2020-12005 - Donnez J, Donnez O, Dolmans MM. Introduction: Uterine adenomyosis, another enigmatic disease of our time. Fertil Steril. 2018;109(3):369−370. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2018.01.035 - Horton J, Sterrenburg M, Lane S, et al. Reproductive, obstetric, and perinatal outcomes of women with adenomyosis and endometriosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Hum Reprod Update. 2019;25(5):592−632. doi: 10.1093/humupd/dmz012 - Yoldemir T. Adenomyosis and fertility outcomes. Gynecol Endocrinol. 2020;36(6):473−474. doi: 10.1080/09513590.2020.1773426 - Vercellini P, Consonni D, Dridi D, et al. Uterine adenomyosis and in vitro fertilization outcome: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Hum Reprod. 2014;29(5):964−977. doi: 10.1093/humrep/deu041 - Gabidullina RI, Kuptsova AI, Koshelnikova EA, et al. Adenomyosis: clinical aspects, impact on fertility and pregnancy outcomes. Gynecology. 2020;(4):55−61. doi: 10.26442/20795696.2020.4.200264 - Vannuccini S, Petraglia F. Recent advances in understanding and managing adenomyosis. F1000Res. 2019;8:F1000 Faculty Rev-283. doi: 10.12688/f1000research.17242.1 - Tapilskaya NI, Gaidukov SN, Shanina TB. Adenomyosis as a separate phenotype of endometrial dysfunction. Jeffektivnaja farmakoterapija. 2015;(5):62−68. - Healy DL, Breheny S, Halliday J, et al. Prevalence and risk factors for obstetric haemorrhage in 6730 singleton births after assisted reproductive technology in Victoria Australia. Hum Reprod. 2010;25(1):265−274. doi: 10.1093/humrep/dep376 - Tamura H, Kishi H, Kitade M, et al. Complications and outcomes of pregnant women with adenomyosis in Japan. Reprod Med Biol. 2017;16(4):330−336. doi: 10.1002/rmb2.12050

Text is read by the "Ask this paper" AI Q&A widget below. Extraction quality varies by source — PMC NXML preserves structure cleanly, OA-HTML may include some navigation residue, and OA-PDF can have broken hyphenation. The publisher copy (via DOI) is the canonical version.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Ask this paper AI returns verbatim quotes from the full text · source: oa-doi-fallback

Answers must be backed by verbatim quotes from this paper's full text. Hallucinated quotes are dropped automatically; if no verbatim passage answers the question, we say so. How this works

Condition tags

adenomyosisinfertility

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 (50)

Cited by (2)

Source provenance

openalex
last seen: 2026-06-04T00:00:01.174412+00:00
unpaywall
last seen: 2026-06-02T02:00:03.124865+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK