Endometriosis: The Enigma That It Continues to Be

Abstract

Endometriosis is an enigmatic disease and there continues to be controversy regarding its incidence, pathogenesis, history and management despite the extensive research world over. It is an estrogen-dependent, benign, inflammatory disease that affects females during their premenarcheal, reproductive, and postmenopausal hormonal stages. The prevalence in general population is not exactly known and can vary considerably depending on whether symptomatic or asymptomatic population was studied and whether clinical or surgical methods were used for diagnosis. This pathology involves presence of endometrial glands and stroma outside of the uterine cavity and the lesions additionally also, contain fibrous tissue, blood and cysts. The lesions are most commonly located in the pelvis where they can involve the ovaries, bowel as well as peritoneum and also, other sites including the diaphragm, pleural cavity, urinary system and scar sites. These lesions typically have the tendency to cause extreme anatomical distortions. Although, endometriosis is a benign pathology, ectopic endometrial tissue and resultant inflammation can cause dysmenorrhea, dyspareunia, chronic pain, and infertility. Symptoms can range from minimal to severely debilitating and may not necessarily corroborate to the degree of anatomical or architectural disarray.