Multicentre retrospective study to assess diagnostic accuracy of ultrasound for superficial endometriosis—Are we any closer?

Prathima Chowdary, Stone K, Kate Stone, Ma T, Tony Ma, Emma Readman, Readman E, Kate McIlwaine, McIlwaine K, Marilla Druitt, Druitt M, Lenore Ellett, Ellett L, Melissa Cameron, Cameron M, Peter Maher, Maher P
The Australian & New Zealand journal of obstetrics & gynaecology · 2018 · vol. 59(2) , pp. 279–284 · doi:10.1111/ajo.12911 · PMID:30411320 · W2900087028
article OA: green CC0 ⤵ 18 in-corpus citations
🔓 Open OA copy View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by gemini-2.5-flash-lite, 2026-06-11 ⓘ

This retrospective study found that ultrasound markers like uterosacral ligament and pericolic fat thickening correlated significantly with laparoscopic findings of superficial endometriosis in women with pelvic pain.

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

Abstract

BACKGROUND: To establish whether the ultrasound findings of minimal endometriosis are confirmed at laparoscopy and that a correlation can be established as to the anatomical sites in this mild form of the disease. AIMS: Patients with pain and suspicion of endometriosis had an ultrasound scan by a sonologist with expertise in endometriosis as part of their pre-operative workup. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The clinical histories of 53 patients who had laparoscopy to investigate pelvic pain were reviewed. Ultrasounds were performed between 2012 and 2015 by a single sonologist with expertise in endometriosis assessments. The ultrasound findings were divided into subgroups as follows - presence of uterosacral ligament thickness, thickened pericolic fat, ovarian mobility and focal tenderness. These were compared with operative findings of those patients with superficial endometriosis. Evidence Level 3 - observational studies with controls and health services research that includes adjustment for likely confounding factors. RESULTS: Seventy-nine percent (42/53) of the patients had laparoscopic findings consistent with their ultrasound findings (95% CI 68-90%, P < 0.0001). Of the subgroups that we reviewed, uterosacral thickening (P < 0.05) and thickened pericolic fat (P < 0.05) were the most associated with superficial endometriosis at the time of laparoscopy. CONCLUSION: Markers on ultrasound that reliably demonstrated inflammation (thickened uterosacral ligaments and thickened pericolic fat) were shown to be significantly associated with the disease.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

endometriosischronic_pelvic_pain

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Endosonography Adipose Tissue Adipose Tissue Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Female Humans Laparoscopy Ligaments Ligaments Pelvic Pain Pelvic Pain Pelvic Pain Retrospective Studies Sensitivity and Specificity

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 (17)

Cited by (18)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-08-18T06:10:16.649438+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-05-13T22:19:25.021412+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK