Perinatal Environment and Endometriosis

Edgardo Somigliana, Paola Viganò, Paola Vigano, Annalisa Abbiati, Alessio Paffoni, Laura Benaglia, Paolo Vercellini, Luigi Fedele
Gynecologic and obstetric investigation · 2011 · vol. 72(2) , pp. 135–140 · doi:10.1159/000323531 · PMID:21625060 · W2075892697
article OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 23 in-corpus citations
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-09 ⓘ

This study found women with endometriosis were less likely to be left- or mixed-handed, suggesting a potential prenatal hormonal influence, but found no associations with other perinatal environmental factors.

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Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Perinatal environmental exposure may affect fetal development and reprogram the developing organism for adult-onset disease. In this case-control study, we aimed at assessing this pathogenetic model in endometriosis. METHODS: Consecutive patients with a first laparoscopic diagnosis of endometriosis were selected as cases. Controls were women who underwent laparoscopy during the same study period, but who were found to be free of the disease. Selected women and their mothers were interviewed. RESULTS: Ninety-one women with endometriosis and 82 controls were selected. Handedness, a variable believed to be determined prenatally by hormonal environment in utero significantly differed between the study groups. Women with the disease were less likely to be left- or mixed-handed (adjusted OR: 0.24, 95% CI: 0.08-0.71). In contrast, we failed to detect any association with birth order, maternal age, smoking, nausea, weight gain, prematurity, birth weight and breast-feeding. CONCLUSIONS: Our results generally do not support the view that in utero exposure may play a major role in the pathogenesis of endometriosis. The association with handedness, however, is intriguing in this regard and deserves further investigation.

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Condition tags

endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Endometriosis Adult Case-Control Studies Endometriosis Female Humans Infertility, Female Italy Italy Perinatal Care Pregnancy Risk Factors Severity of Illness Index Surveys and Questionnaires

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References (27)

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