Assessment of pelvic floor muscles in women with deep endometriosis.

PURPOSE: To assess function and prevalence of spasms and trigger points of the pelvic floor muscles in women with deep endometriosis. METHODS: One hundred and four (104) patients were assessed. Group 1 (G1) was composed of 52 subjects diagnosed with deep endometriosis proven by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); Group 2 (G2) was composed of 52 women with no signs of endometriosis. Subjects from both G1 and G2 were seen at the Division of Pelvic Pain and Endometriosis and at Center for Prevention of Sexually Transmitted Diseases, both at Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP), respectively. A full physical therapy evaluation was carried out, including medical history, presence of dyspareunia and physical examination, which included detailed evaluation of pelvic floor muscles and occurrence of muscle spasm, trigger point and muscle function. RESULTS: The average age of the subjects in the study group was 36.4 and 30.9 years in the control group (p = 0.002). A greater prevalence of deep dyspareunia was found in the subjects in the endometriosis group when compared to the control group (p = 0.010). Women in G1 had higher prevalence of muscle spasms. In this group, 53.9 % had spasms-compared to only 17.3 % of women in G2 (p < 0.001). On the other hand, no significant difference between the groups (p = 0.153) was found while searching for the presence of trigger points. CONCLUSION: Women with deep endometriosis have increased prevalence of pelvic floor muscle spasms when compared to the control group.

O que influencia doação de óvulos quando não há compensação financeira? / What influences oocyte donation when there is no financial compensation?

Aim: To evaluate the influence of factors such as age, education level and previous treatment for infertility in the decision to donate or receive eggs. Methods: Patients visting our service for the first time answered the question: “Would you donate or receive eggs?”. We assessed whether the inclination to donate or receive was related to age, level of education and the previous unsuccessful treatment for infertility.Results: 313 patients were included and most (56.9%) said they would donate eggs while only 34.5% would receive a donation. When giving and receiving were evaluated jointly we observed a positive correlation between them (Pearson correlation: r = 0.537, p < 0.01). Patients that underwent previous treatments for infertility were significantly more prone to egg donation (63.4% yes vs. 36.6% no, p < 0.05 vs no previous treatment group), but not toreceive (41.8% yes vs. 58, 2% no). In high and low levels of education most patients were in favor of donation (55.4% and 61.3%, respectively), but against the idea of receiving (33.9%and 37.5%, respectively). There was no significant differences between groups. The age of the patients (< 35 years old or > 35 years old) did not influence the will do donate (58.2% and56.4% respectively) or receive eggs (36.9% and 33.0%, respectively).Conclusions: Our results help understand the factors that may influence the decision to participate in an egg-sharing scheme. We could speculate that patients who have previously undergone unsuccessful treatments are more open to egg-sharing, despite their age or educational background. It would also be relevant to investigate the psychosocial reasons that make couples more willing to donate eggs than receiving.

Objetivo: Avaliar a influência da idade, grau de escolaridade e tratamento anterior na decisão de doar ou receber óvulos. Pacientes e métodos: Mulheres atendidas em nosso serviço responderam à pergunta: “Vocêdoaria ou receberia óvulos?”. Avaliou-se a concordância de aceitação de ovodoação ou ovorecepção com a idade, o grau de escolaridade e tratamento anterior para infertilidade. Resultados: Foram incluídas 313 pacientes e a maioria (56,9%) respondeu que doaria óvulos enquanto apenas 34,5% receberiam. Houve correlação positiva entre doação e recepção (r = 0,537, p < 0,01). Pacientes submetidas a tratamento anterior de infertilidade se mostraram significativamente mais propensas à doação (63,4% sim vs 36,6% não, p < 0.05 vs sem tratamento anterior), mas não a receber (41,8% sim vs 58,2% não). Em níveis altos e baixos de escolaridade a maioria dos pacientes se mostrou a favor da doação (55,4% e 61,3%, respectivamente), mas contra a ideia de receber (37,5% e 33,9%, respectivamente), não houvediferenças significativas entre os grupos. A maioria das pacientes com menos ou mais de 35 anos de idade doaria (58,2% e 56,4%, respectivamente), mas não receberia (36,9% e 33,0%, respectivamente).Conclusões: Nossos resultados são relevantes para entender os fatores que podem influenciar na decisão de participar em um esquema de partilha de óvulos. Poderíamos especular que pacientes previamente submetidas a tratamentos mal sucedidos são mais aberta à ovodoação, apesar de sua idade ou formação educacional.

Endometriosis of the round ligament of the uterus.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate the prevalence of endometriosis in the intrapelvic portion of the round ligaments of the uterus (RLUs) and to propose criteria for their excision. DESIGN: Retrospective case series analysis of women undergoing laparoscopy for the treatment of deep infiltrating endometriosis (Canadian Task Force classification II-3). SETTING: Tertiary referral hospital. PATIENTS: We evaluated 174 patients who underwent laparoscopy for the treatment of deep infiltrating endometriosis (DIE) between April 2006 and May 2009. INTERVENTIONS: All patients underwent laparoscopy for the treatment of DIE and had their RLUs removed when there was shortening, deviation, or thickening. After removal, the RLUs were sent for histopathologic analysis to verify the presence or absence of endometriosis. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The prevalence of endometriosis in the RLUs and the association between the macroscopic alterations and the anatomic pathology results were determined. After the identification of macroscopic alterations, 1 or both RLUs (for a total of 42) were removed from 27 of the 174 patients who underwent laparoscopy. The positive predictive value (PPV) of the macroscopic criteria proposed for endometriosis of the RLU was 83.3% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 72.1%-94.5%), with 35 positive RLUs out of the 42 that were excised. The prevalence of endometriosis of the RLU was 13.8% (95% CI = 8.7%-18.9%), with 24 patients having a positive histopathologic examination result for endometriosis. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of RLU endometriosis in patients with DIE was 13.8%, which emphasizes that a rigorous evaluation of this structure must be part of the routine surgical treatment of patients with endometriosis.

Evaluation of quality of life and sexual satisfaction in women suffering from chronic pelvic pain with or without endometriosis.

INTRODUCTION: Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) is one of the most frequent symptoms in women of reproductive age. This is an enigmatic clinical condition that results from the complex interactions of physiological and psychological factors with direct impact on the social, marital, and professional lives of women. AIM: To evaluate the quality of life and sexual satisfaction of women who suffer from CPP with or without endometriosis. METHOD: Forty-nine patients who had been diagnosed with endometriosis and 35 patients with CPP diagnosed with another gynecological condition, all 84 of whom were treated at the Chronic Pelvic Pain and Endometriosis Clinic at Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) from January to July of 2008. The controls were 50 healthy women from the Family Planning Clinic at UNIFESP. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment-Bref (WHOQOL-BREF) quality of life questionnaire and the Golombok-Rust Inventory of Sexual Satisfaction (GRISS). RESULTS: No statistically significant differences were observed between the groups with CPP symptoms, in either the results from the WHOQOL-BREF or in the GRISS questionnaire. In both questionnaires, differences were observed when the two groups of symptomatic women were compared with the group of healthy women. CONCLUSION: CPP caused by endometriosis or other gynecological conditions leads to a significant reduction of quality of life and sexual satisfaction.

Indicação da laparoscopia na dor pélvica crônica: revisão baseada em evidências / Indication of laparoscopy in chronic pelvic pain: evidence-based review

Nas últimas décadas, o uso da laparoscopia na ginecologia apresentou aumento expressivo. Ainda é considerada por grande parte dos ginecologistas como a primeira etapa na abordagem das mulheres com dor pélvica crônica. Esta revisão de literatura analisou as indicações da laparoscopia em pacientes com dor pélvica crônica, considerando separadamente os diagnósticos etiológicos mais comuns. Foram utilizadas as bases de dados do Medline-PubMed, Lilacs e Cochrane Library. Esta revisão mostrou que é preciso cautela na indicação do procedimento endoscópico, dado que, em alguns casos, como na endometriose profunda, as complicações são graves e os resultados muitas vezes insatisfatórios, o que justifica maior incentivo ao uso de tratamentos clínicos na abordagem inicial. A laparoscopia deve ser, portanto, empregada como elemento terapêutico em casos criteriosamente selecionados

In the recent decades, the use of laparoscopy in gynecology has had a significant growth. It is still considered by many gynecologists as the first step in the evaluation of women with chronic pelvic pain. This literature review analyzed the indications of laparoscopy in patients with chronic pelvic pain, considering separately the most common etiologies. The databases of Medline, PubMed, Lilacs and Cochrane Library were used. This review showed the need of caution in the indication of endoscopic procedure, because in some cases, as in deep endometriosis, complications are serious and results are often unsatisfactory, which justifies a great incentive to the use of treatment in the initial approach. Laparoscopy should therefore be used as a therapeutic option in carefully selected cases

Disrupted cell cycle control in cultured endometrial cells from patients with endometriosis harboring the progesterone receptor polymorphism PROGINS.

Presently, little is understood about how endometriosis is established or maintained, or how genetic factors can predispose women to the disease. Because of the crucial role that the progesterone receptor polymorphism PROGINS plays in predisposing women to the development of endometriosis, we hypothesized that this variant may influence critical steps during endometrial cell metabolism that are involved in the pathogenesis of endometriosis. Eutopic endometria were collected from three sources: women with endometriosis who had a single PROGINS allele (from the progesterone receptor gene); women with endometriosis who had the wild-type progesterone receptor allele; and women without endometriosis who had the wild-type allele. Cells prepared from the eutopic endometria of these women were stimulated with both estradiol and progesterone, and then examined for cell proliferation, viability, and apoptosis. The cells from women with endometriosis that carried the PROGINS allele demonstrated increased proliferation, greater viability, and decreased apoptosis following progesterone treatment. In general, these parameters were very different as compared with those of women with endometriosis but without the PROGINS allele and women in the control group. This result indicates there is a reduced level of progesterone responsiveness in women who carry the PROGINS polymorphism. Because progesterone responsiveness is known to be an important characteristic of women with endometriosis, these data support the contention that the PROGINS polymorphism enhances the endometriosis phenotype.

The V109G polymorphism in the p27 gene is associated with endometriosis.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the prevalence of the p27 gene polymorphism in women with endometriosis. STUDY DESIGN: Transversal case-control study. Genomic DNA was extracted from cells collected from buccal swabs. The p27 V109G polymorphism was investigated using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method in a hospital-based Brazilian population. RESULTS: We analysed the 104 patients and 109 control subjects. The distribution of genotype and allele frequencies of p27 V109G polymorphism was significantly different between the endometriosis cases and healthy women (p=0.016 and 0.002). Women who had at least one mutated allele presented twofold chances for endometriosis development (OR=1.9; 95% CI, 1.120-3.343). CONCLUSION: The polymorphic variant at codon 109 of the p27 gene seems to be associated with higher risk of endometriosis development.

P27Kip1 is down-regulated in the endometrium of women with endometriosis.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate p27 protein expression in the endometrium of women with endometriosis. DESIGN: Transversal case-control study. SETTING: Endometriosis Unit, Federal University of São Paulo, Brazil. PATIENT(S): Thirteen patients with stage I/II endometriosis, five with stage III/IV endometriosis, and 11 control subjects. INTERVENTION(S): Endometrial biopsies were obtained from patients with proven endometriosis and women without disease at laparoscopy. P27 protein was immunolocalized in the biopsy tissues and quantified by light microscopy. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Immunostaining scores of glandular and stromal cells in endometrial biopsies obtained from patients with confirmed endometriosis compared with those of healthy control women with normal pelvis at laparoscopy. The staining scores of stage I/II and stage III/IV patients and of both patient groups and the control group were compared. RESULT(S): The level of p27 protein expression observed in the control group, both in the stroma and in the endometrial glands, was significantly different from that observed in the endometriosis patient groups. Significant differences in p27 protein expression levels in the glandular epithelium and stroma were not observed among groups of patients with endometriosis. CONCLUSION(S): The decreased level of p27 protein in the endometrium of women with endometriosis suggests that cell cycle alterations in the endometrial mucosa may be involved in the pathogenesis of this disease.

Intron 1 and exon 1 alpha estrogen receptor gene polymorphisms in women with endometriosis.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association of intron 1 and exon 1 polymorphisms in the estrogen receptor alpha gene (ER-alpha) with endometriosis in women. DESIGN: Association study. SETTING: Endometriosis Unit, Federal University of São Paulo. PATIENT(S): The control group consisted of volunteers older than 45 years who had no evidence of endometriosis antecedents. Two groups with the disease were evaluated: the first group had stage I or II endometriosis and the second group stage III or IV. INTERVENTION(S): Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) followed by digestion with HaeIII and MspI endonucleases (RFLP) were applied to detect intron 1 and exon 1 polymorphisms, respectively, in a total of 125 controls and 105 affected women. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Frequency and distribution of HaeIII and MspI polymorphisms in ER-alpha. RESULT(S): No significant differences in the frequency of polymorphisms either in intron 1 or exon 1 of ER-alpha were found when endometriosis patients were compared with control subjects. Furthermore, the frequency of ER-alpha polymorphisms within the two different groups of patients with disease was statistically similar. The odds ratio between presence of intron 1 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) and endometriosis was 0.904, and the odds ratio between exon 1 SNP and endometriosis was 0.976. CONCLUSION(S): The evaluated polymorphisms were not associated with endometriosis.

Polymorphisms in exons 1B and 1C of the type I interleukin-1 receptor gene in patients with endometriosis.

To study possible correlation between the prevalence of polymorphisms in the type I interleukin-1 receptor gene and pelvic endometriosis. Genotypes of 223 women were analyzed: 109 women with surgically and histologically confirmed endometriosis and 114 healthy women. Distributions of two single-base polymorphisms of the human interleukin-1 receptor type I (IL-1RI) gene were evaluated: PstI, due to a C-->T transition in exon 1B and BsrBI a C-->A transition at position 52 in exon 1C. Polymorphisms were detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis (RFLP) resolved on 3% agarose gels stained with ethidium bromide. Genotypes for PstI polymorphisms did not differ significantly among control and endometriosis (P = 0.058). However, in relation to BsrBI polymorphism, protective risk was observed for the development of endometriosis [OR 0.39-IC 95% (0.2-0.9)]. BsrBI heterozygote genotype (C/A) showed protective effect against endometriosis development.

Alterações músculo-esqueléticas em mulheres com dor pélvica crônica (DPC) / Musculoskeletal disorders in women with chronic pelvi pain (CPP)

Algia pélvica crônica é definida como dor localizada na região inferior do abdômen ou da pelve com duração superior a seis meses. Sua etiologia é multifatorial e as causas ósteo-musculares (principalmente das dores na pelve, quadril, coluna lombar e membros inferiores) devem ser salientadas, pois geralmente são negligenciadas no atendimento. Na literatura são discutidas alterações músculo-esqueléticas observadas em mulheres com queixa de dores pélvidas sem diagnóstico de doenças ginecológicas; nestes casos é possível que estas alterações sejam a causa primária da dor. Entretanto, as alterações músculo-esqueléticas também podem surgir devido a postura antálgica por tempo prolongado, adotada por mulheres com doenças que levam a dor crônica (p.ex., pacientes com endometriose). O papel da fisioterapia é avaliar as condições posturais e músculo-esqueléticas que afetam o equilíbrio pélvico gerando dor nesta região. A fisioterapia, inserida na equipe multiprofissional que atende a mulher com queixa álgica, contribui para esclarecer a causa destes sintomas e atua sinergicamente nas afecções ginecológicas que geram distúrbios ósteo-musculares; isto favorece a diminuição da dor e a melhora na qualidade de vida destas pacientes

Polimorfismo do gene do receptor de progesterona (PROGINS) em mulheres com endometriose pélvica / Progesterone receptor gene polymorphism (PROGINS) in women with pelvic endometriosis

OBJETIVO: o objetivo do estudo foi verificar a prevalência do polimorfismo denominado PROGINS no gene do receptor de progesterona entre mulheres com endometriose em seus diferentes estádios. MÉTODOS: estudo caso-controle desenvolvido entre novembro de 2003 e maio de 2004. Foram analisados os genótipos de 104 mulheres, das quais 66 com endometriose comprovada por videolaparoscopia (26 mulheres nos estádios I-II e 40 nos estádios III-IV) e 38 saudáveis. A inserção Alu de 306 pares de base no intron G do gene do receptor de progesterona denominada PROGINS foi detectada por meio de reação em cadeia da polimerase e analisada em gel de agarose 2 por cento corado com brometo de etídio. Para análise estatística foi utilizado o teste ANOVA paramétrico. RESULTADOS: as amostras pertencentes aos grupos endometriose estádios I-II (grupo EndoI) e estádios III-IV (grupo EndoII) tiveram significativo aumento na incidência do alelo polimórfico do receptor de progesterona em relação ao grupo controle: 27 por cento no grupo EndoI, 38 por cento no EndoII e apenas 18 por cento no grupo controle (p < 0,001). A prevalência da inserção, quando comparamos mulheres com endometriose, independente do estádio, com as do grupo controle, foi estatisticamente superior no grupo das doentes (p = 0,0385). CONCLUSAO: há associação estatisticamente significante entre o polimorfismo PROGINS e a endometriose pélvica.