Journal of Reproductive Health and Contraception

Abstract

It is known that both structural changes in the abdominal cavity caused by the presence of endometrial tissue outside the uterus and chronic inflammation compromise pregnancy outcomes in patients with endometriosis. Indeed, the existence of an increased risk of abortion in patients with endometriosis has been reported. However, considering the variety of clinical presentations, as well as the controversies that exists regarding the pathophysiology and the best methodology to be used to study these patients, consensus has not yet been reached. This work aims to evaluate the incidence of abortion in patients with previous histological diagnosis of endometriosis and to explore a possible association with the extent and the location of endometriosis. Based on clinical records, patients with a histological diagnosis of endometriosis were studied (N = 190) and 40 patients referred previous abortion (21%). In this subgroup, there was a higher incidence of mixed endometriosis (localized both in ovarium and peritoneum) and disease stage III-IV (N = 25 and N = 32, respectively), not significantly different (p> 0.005) from patients without this background. Regarding symptoms, 50% (20/40) of them were symptomatic. The most frequent symptoms were dysmenorrhea (28/40) and pelvic pain (26/40). As so, based on this study, we can infer that there is no significant association between the phenotype of endometriosis (location, stage, symptoms) in patients with previous abortion when compared to women with term pregnancy. Further research should be conducted to clarify the link between endometriosis clinical features and obstetric outcomes.