Endometriomas are more frequent on the left side

Jacek Jan Sznurkowski, Jacek J Sznurkowski, Janosz Emerich, Janusz Emerich
Acta obstetricia et gynecologica Scandinavica · 2007 · vol. 87(1) , pp. 104–106 · doi:10.1080/00016340701671929 · PMID:17943469 · W1966337837
article OA: bronze CC0 ⤵ 29 in-corpus citations
🔓 Open OA copy View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-09 ⓘ

This study analyzed operative reports from 234 women and found endometriomas occur significantly more frequently in the left ovary compared to the right.

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

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether asymmetry exists in the left- and right-distribution of ovarian cystic lesions in women with endometriosis. METHODS: We evaluated operative reports of women who underwent surgical treatment of endometrioma(n = 253) from January 1999 to December 2003. We included only those cases that had not been previously operated on (n = 234). Data of all operative findings consisted of a written report and a diagram, fulfilling the revised American Fertility Society Classification of endometriosis. RESULTS: Endometrioma was found in the left ovary in 113 women, in the right ovaryin 67, and bilaterally in 54. Left ovarian unilateral endometrioma was found more frequently (62.8%) than right endometrioma (p < 0.001, odds ratio (OR) 2.8, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.9, 4.4). The frequencies of left and right ovarian endometrioma were compared with the expected 50% using Pearson's chi(2)-test. The results confirmed asymmetry(p = 0.001). We found 4 cases of ovarian cancer associated with left endometrioma without histological proof of transition. CONCLUSION: Our results confirm a left lateral predisposition of endometrioma. This predisposition may be caused by the presence of the sigmoid colon in the left side of the pelvis, which decreases peritoneal fluid movement. Our findings may support the transplantation theory of the origin for endometriosis.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

mesh:D004715endometriosisendometrioma

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Ovarian Diseases Chi-Square Distribution Endometriosis Endometriosis Female Humans Ovarian Diseases Ovarian Diseases Pelvis Pelvis Retrospective Studies

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 (18)

Cited by (29)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-06-04T01:30:01.192114+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-04T00:00:01.174412+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-05-13T22:14:48.452140+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK