IMR Press / FBE / Volume 4 / Issue 5 / DOI: 10.2741/e487

Frontiers in Bioscience-Elite (FBE) is published by IMR Press from Volume 13 Issue 2 (2021). Previous articles were published by another publisher on a subscription basis, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with Frontiers in Bioscience.

Review

Fertility preservation in women with ovarian endometriosis

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1 Universite Catholique de Louvain, Cliniques Universitaires St. Luc, Department of Gynecology, Institut de Recherche Experimentale et Clinique, Avenue Hippocrate 10, B-1200 Brussels, Belgium

*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

 

Front. Biosci. (Elite Ed) 2012, 4(5), 1654–1662; https://doi.org/10.2741/e487
Published: 1 January 2012
Abstract

Endometriosis is one of the most frequently encountered benign diseases in gynecology. Complete resolution of endometriosis is not yet possible, but therapy has essentially three main objectives: (1) to preserve and improve fertility, (2) to reduce pain, and (3) to delay recurrence for as long as possible. The aim of this paper is to focus on fertility preservation in women with severe endometriosis. In moderate and severe endometriosis, a medico-surgical approach remains the gold standard, but more and more papers are reporting a low ovarian reserve after laparoscopic cystectomy for endometriomas. Indeed, very frequently, normal ovarian tissue is excised together with the endometrioma wall. Ovarian surgery in endometriosis patients should therefore be performed by experienced surgeons in order to both preserve and improve fertility. Preservation of ovarian tissue should be considered in all patients at serious risk of future fertility impairment, particularly before any treatment likely to result in ovarian endometriosis recurrence and/or premature ovarian failure.

Keywords
Ovary
Ovarian Endometriosis
Endometrioma
Fertility Preservation
Cryopreservation
Ovarian Cortex
Review
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