R-157. Serum CEA, CA-125, CA-15.3 and CA-19.9 levels as a diagnostic test for endometriosis

in three (10%) cases progesterone levels were within the normal range throughout the luteal phase; therefore the endometrial retardation could be due to an inadequate response of the endometrium to progesterone and oestradiol. Echography demonstrated ovulation in all cases. In 24 subjects ultrasonography appears to reflect secretory transformation, even if these patterns were associated with a normal biopsy in 11 (46%) cases; in six cases reflected a proliferative pattern associated with four (67%) out-of-phase endometria and two (33%) cases in-phase endometria. Hysteroscopy showed in 19 (63%) cases a 'good' endometrium correlated to the mid-luteal phase in 11 (27%) cases a 'poor' endometrium Conclusions: The evaluation of our results suggest that progesterone assay and endometrial biopsy are more appropriate for the estimation of luteal function even if the most practical and accurate method for assessing LPD is endometrial biopsy. In 21 cases of histological out-of-phase endometrium, the progesterone levels were normal in 19 cases (90.4% of accuracy) and in six (66%) of nine out-of-phase endometria the progesterone was < 10 ng/ml. Ultrasonography could not demonstrate with accuracy the variations of mid-luteal hormones. Hysteroscopy proved to be more accurate in the evaluation of the endometrium and in the assessment of the secretory phase, but ultrasonography is still a complementary method to endometrial biopsy, which is the gold standard for evaluating endometrial development.