Clinical-pathologic Characteristics of Endometriosis and Exploration of Pathogenesis

Objective: To investigate the cause, pathogenesis and the clinical-pathologic char- acteristics of endometriosis. Method: According to the area of lesion endometriosis is divided into (1) adenomyosis (also named interna endometriosis, IEM ); (2) externa endometriosis (EEM); (3) mixed endometriosis. Estrogen and progestogen receptors are detected in eutopic and ectopic endometrium of 112 cases of endometriosis using immunohistochemical S-P method. Results: The clinical characteristics of endometriosis are chronic pelvic pain, dysmenorrhea and infertility. Serial section has confirmed that the histogenesis of the IEM is the direct infiltration of basal endometrium into the myometrial wall. The positive rate of ER in eutopic and ectopic endometrium is 89%(39/44) and 80%(45/56) respectively: the positive rate of PR in eutopic and ectopic endometrium is 77% (34/44)和 86%(48/56)respectively. The positive rate of ectopic endometrium is higher than that in the eutopic endometrium but no statistical difference (P 0.05). Conclusion: Endometriosis is caused by multiple factors, which possesses some neoplastic features such as invasion and meta- stasis etc. although it is a benign disorder. Both ER and PR are highly expressed in eutopic and ec- topic endometrium, which lead directly or indirectly to the pathogenesis of endometriosis and pro- mote the initiation and development of endometriosis.