Comparison of revised American Fertility Society and ENZIAN staging: a critical evaluation of classifications of endometriosis on the basis of our patient population

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This study critically evaluated the revised American Fertility Society and ENZIAN classifications of endometriosis using their patient population.

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Abstract

ObjectiveTo develop a classification that takes deep infiltrating endometriosis into account, the ENZIAN score was introduced. The ENZIAN classification supplements the revised American Fertility Society (AFS) score with regard to the description of deep infiltrating endometriosis, retroperitoneal structures, and other organs. The null hypothesis was that classifying a lesion by the revised AFS as well as the ENZIAN system is not meaningful, because the two systems express different locations.DesignRetrospective.SettingHospital admissions.Patient(s)Two hundred nineteen women admitted for endometriosis.Intervention(s)Surgical interventions.Main outcome measure(s)Classification of the severity of endometriosis according to the revised AFS and the ENZIAN classification, focusing on the distribution pattern in deep infiltrating endometriosis, and the identification of duplicate classifications of the same lesions in the revised AFS as well as the ENZIAN systems.Result(s)Deep infiltrating endometriosis was diagnosed in 160 of 219 patients (73%). These patients had 236 lesions of deep infiltrating endometriosis, which were classified by ENZIAN as follows: compartment a (vertical): 26%; compartment b (horizontal): 41%; compartment c (dorsal): 24%; uterine adenomyosis: 4%; bladder disease: 2%; ureter disease: 1%; and bowel disease: 2%. The severity of deep infiltrating endometriosis according to ENZIAN (grades 1 = mild to 4 = severe) was as follows: grade 1: 45%; grade 2: 26%; grade 3: 19%; grade 4: 10%. Fifty-eight patients were classified according to ENZIAN although they did not fulfill the criteria of deep infiltrating endometriosis and had previously been classified according to the revised AFS classification. Adaptation of the ENZIAN score would reduce the diagnoses of deep infiltrating endometriosis by 36% (95% confidence interval [CI] 29%-44%).Conclusion(s)The ENZIAN score is a helpful aid to describe deep infiltrating endometriosis, but needs to be adapted.

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Condition tags

endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Diagnostic Techniques, Obstetrical and Gynecological Endometriosis Peritoneal Diseases Research Design Adult Douglas' Pouch Douglas' Pouch Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Female Fertility Fertility Humans Models, Biological Peritoneal Diseases Peritoneal Diseases Peritoneal Diseases Population Retrospective Studies

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