LAPROSCOPIC EVIDENCE OF ENDOMETRIOSIS IN A COHORT OF INFERTILE WOMEN

A one year audit of all the laproscopies performed on infertile women was carried out in the department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Hayatabad Medical Complex. The objective was to find the incidence of endometriosis in a cohort of infertile women. A total of 831 laproscopies were performed from 1 Jan. to 31 Dec 1998. Of these 678 were for infertility both primary and secondary. Endometriosis was diagnosed in 72 cases : an incidence of 10.6%. The disease had greater prevalence in the 20-39 age group. All the women included were either Pakistanis or Afghans of Asian origin. 58.7% of the women had minimal endometriosis, 16.6% had mild, 18% had moderate and 11% had severe endometriois as graded according to the Revised American Fertility Society Classification. A significant number of women with minimal endometriosis had patent tubes (92.3%) while only one woman (11.1%) had patent tubes out the nine who had severe endometriosis.