The etiology of endometriosis
Malick, J.E.
Journal of the American Osteopathic Association 81(6 Suppl): 407-412
1982
ISSN/ISBN: 0098-6151 PMID: 7200478 Document Number: 194778
Few gynecologic disorders stimulated more interest or investigation over the past 50 yr than endometriosis. In some respects the disease is as much of an enigma today as it was when first described by Von Rokitansky in the mid-1800s. Confusion centers around the exact etiology of the disease and its relationship to infertility. Research into the etiology of adhesion formation, recent evidence suggesting that luteinizing unruptured follicles occur frequently in patients with endometriosis and reports on the role of granulosa cell plasminogen activators in achieving follicular rupture imply that an inherited deficiency of coelomic plasminogen activators might be the crucial factor in the development of endometriosis and associated infertility. To support this hypothesis, a study of serosal plasminogen activator activity in patients with and without the disease and a careful review of the literature are presented.