Endometriosis: Novel Models, Diagnosis, and Treatment

Endometriosis remains a cause of significant morbidity in \nreproductive-aged women resulting in pelvic pain, pelvic \nmasses, and infertility. Endometriosis is defined as the presence \nof endometrial glands and stroma outside of their normal \nintrauterine location, most commonly in the dependent \nportions of the pelvis. Endometriosis is treated with medical \ntherapies, surgery or both.Themedical therapies include oral \ncontraceptive pills, progestins, gonadotropin releasing hormone \nanalogues, and danazol. All of these medical therapies \ninduce a hormonal steady state that results in an environment \nnot conducive to the growth of endometriosis. Surgical therapies \nfor endometriosis-associated pain include the removal \nof endometriotic implants and adhesions with restoration \nof normal anatomy. Laparoscopy is an effective surgical \napproach with the goal of excising visible endometriosis. \nSince endometriosis is a chronic condition, it is not uncommon \nfor recurrences to occur. While endometriosis remains \nan enigmatic disease, the introduction of new pharmacologic \nagents and newer endoscopic methods of surgical treatment \nhas facilitated and improved the overall management of this \ndisease. \nThis special issue contains some papers that refer to \nmolecular and cellular mechanisms of endometriosis physiopathology \nand some papers that refer to biomarker development \nfor improved early diagnosis and risk of disease, \nwhile the other papers refer minimally to invasive treatment \nfor endometriosis and new medical therapies. Finally, there \nare somemanuscripts about prevention of endometriosis and \nnovel models in endometriosis research.