FERTILITY IN PATIENTS WITH OVARIAN ENDOMETRIOSIS BEFORE AND AFTER TREATMENT

172 patients with endometriosis were investigated. 125 were trying to conceive at the time of treatment. The following are the salient points of the investigation. (1) 64% of the patients with a desire for pregnancy at the time of treatment had primary sterility. (2) No correlation between the duration of sterility in years and the development of adhesions was found. (3) The surgical findings were of importance in predicting the chances of a pregnancy. If only simple endometrial cysts were present, the chance of becoming pregnant after the operation was almost 80%, whereas if cysts and adhesions existed, only 40% of patients conceived. (4) The duration of previous sterility was not found to affect the prospects of pregnancy. (5) The frequency of abortion was markedly reduced after the operation.