Adenomyosis and endometriosis have a common origin

The presence of epithelial cells in the peritoneal cavity and within the myometrium was described during the second part of the 19th century and was given the name “adenomyoma”. Then, with the identification of peritoneal endometriosis in the 1920s, adenomyosis became a separate nosological entity. For decades, the two abnormalities have been considered separate benign proliferative conditions of the female reproductive tract with a different clinical profile. More recently, however, evidence has been accumulated indicating that these two diseases have in common an endometrial dysfunction involving both eutopic and heterotopic endometrium causing a reaction in the inner myometrium (the so-called myometrium junctional zone (JZ)). It therefore seems that adenomyosis and endometriosis share a common origin in an abnormal eutopic endometrium and myometrium JZ. It is therefore no surprise that both conditions are associated with obstetrical disorders, such as spontaneous preterm delivery and premature preterm rupture of the membranes, which may have roots in a disturbed decidualization and placentation process. Similar content being viewed by others

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