Do women with deep infiltrating endometriosis have more tubal alterations? Objective evaluation of 473 patients.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate whether deep infiltrating endometriosis (DIE) is associated with tubal alterations.

STUDY

DESIGN

This was a retrospective study. Our study included 335 women with ovarian endometriosis (Group A), 66 women with DIE (Group B), and 72 women presenting with both conditions (Group C). We evaluated tubal morphology and patency during laparoscopic excision of endometriosis. Tubal patency was assessed by tubal dye test. Tubal morphology was determined using the tubal morphology score (TMS), obtained by a total grade of 4 parameters: tubal caliber, course, surface and fimbrial morphology.

RESULTS

There was no significant difference in the 3 groups regarding the presence of tubal occlusion (p = 0.23). Total TMS was not significantly different in the 3 groups (p = 0.13). A history of surgical treatment for endometriosis was associated with higher rate of tubal occlusion (p < 0.0005) and more severe morphological alterations (p < 0.0005). There was a positive correlation between number of previous surgical interventions and worse TMS (rho = 0.197, p < 0.0005).

CONCLUSION

Alterations in tubal patency and morphology were not significantly different in patients with DIE as compared to women with ovarian endometriosis. History of surgical interventions for endometriosis was related with the presence of tubal alterations.