Abstract
Endometriosis is a benign entity that affects women of reproductive age. It is defined as the presence of endometrial tissue outside the uterus. The clinical manifestations of endometriosis are protean. The presence of endometrial tissue in the myometrium is termed adenomyosis. Superficial implants of endometrial tissue may occur throughout the peritoneal cavity, along serosal surfaces and in the abdominal wall. Deep infiltrating endometriosis occurs when implants infiltrate the peritoneum and serosa by at least 5 mm and involve visceral organs. Histologically, these lesions are characterized by fibromuscular hyperplasia around foci of endometriosis which sometimes contain small cavities (Koninckx et al. 1994). The majority of patients have superficial endometriosis, usually asymptomatic, with the commonest site of involvement being the ovaries, uterine ligaments, pouch of Douglas, serosal uterine surface, fallopian tubes, rectosigmoid junction, and bladder dome. Deep infiltrative endometriosis is symptomatic and causes significant morbidity including chronic pelvic pain, infertility, haematuria, and rectal pain and bleeding.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bazot M, Darai E, Hourani R, Thomassin I, Cortez A, Uzan S, Buy J. Deep pelvic endometriosis: MR imaging for diagnosis and prediction of extension of disease. Radiology. 2004;232:379–89.
Bis KG, Vrachliotis TG, Agrawal R, Shetty AN, Maximovich A, Hricak H. Pelvic endometriosis: MR imaging spectrum with laparoscopic correlation and diagnostic pitfalls. Radiographics. 1997;17:639–55.
Koninckx PR, Oosterlynck D, D’Hooghe T, Meuleman C. Deeply infiltrating endometriosis is a disease whereas mild endometriosis could be considered a non-disease. Ann NY Acad Sci. 1994;734:333–41.
Patel MD, Feldstein VA, Chen DC, Lipson SD, Filly RA. Endometriomas: diagnostic performance of US. Radiology. 1999;210:739–45.
Takeuchi M, Matsuzaki K, Uehara H, Nishitani H. Malignant transformation of pelvic endometriosis: MR imaging findings and pathologic correlation. Radiographics. 2006;26:407–17.
Togashi K, Nishimura K, Kimura I, Tsuda Y, Yamashita K, Shibata T, et al. Endometrial cysts: diagnosis with MR imaging. Radiology. 1991;180:73–8.
Woodward PJ, Sohaey R, Mezzetti Jr TP. Endometriosis: radiologic–pathologic correlation. Radiographics. 2001;21:193–216.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this entry
Cite this entry
Sahdev, A. (2013). Ovarian Cysts, Endometriosis. In: Hamm, B., Ros, P.R. (eds) Abdominal Imaging. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-13327-5_138
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-13327-5_138
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-13326-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-13327-5
eBook Packages: MedicineReference Module Medicine