Endometriosis in adolescents: a whole different focus.

摘要

A rare week goes by that a NASPAG member does not see an adolescent with pelvic pain and ultimately "presumed endometriosis." It's not an easy disease to "spot" in our patient population, with an incidence of 5-10% in the general population , i.e. among reproductive age patients. Fast forward to the adolescent and young adult and we may be dealing with an incidence in the 73% range, depending upon the study you cite. Now the pathophysi-ology remains "the great debate." Is it Sampson's theory reported in 19404 of retrograde menstruation or is it coelomic metaplasia or is it hematogenous or lymphatic mechanisms of "dissemination"?