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Endometriosis and infertility

  • Chapter
Modern Approaches to Endometriosis

Abstract

It is axiomatic that before treatment of a disease can be justified it must be shown to confer benefit. Since the introduction of the laparoscope, clinicians have been diagnosing endometriosis in the infertile woman with increasing frequency. It is current practice to treat this either medically or surgically and yet perhaps the most controversial clinical problem with endometriosis is whether, if there is no mechanical damage, it has a causal relationship with infertility. The picture is further obscured by recent evidence that pelvic endometriosis is a more ubiquitous phenomenon than previously realized. It is quite possible that the finding of endometriosis is coincidental to the infertility.

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  1. E. J. Thomas
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Reproduction and Obstetrics Princess Anne Hospital, University of Southampton, Coxford Road, Southampton, SO9 4HA, UK

    Eric J. Thomas MD (Professor) (Professor)

  2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Division of Reproductive Endocrinology, Johns Hopkins University Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland, 21205, USA

    John A. Rock MD (Professor) (Professor)

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Thomas, E.J. (1991). Endometriosis and infertility. In: Thomas, E.J., Rock, J.A. (eds) Modern Approaches to Endometriosis. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-3864-2_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-3864-2_7

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