CA 125 serum values in surgically treated endometriosis patients and its relationships with anatomic sites of endometriosis and pregnancy rate

Endometriosis is a benign gynecologic disease defined as the presence of functional endometrial glands and stroma outside the uterine cavity, causing dysmenorrhea, dyspareunia, menstrual irregularities, and infertility. Serum CA-125 measurement is now a consolidated method for diagnosing this condition, and its interpretation has posed a number of problems, particularly regarding utility in diagnosing minimal-mild endometriosis, whereas its value as a diagnostic aid in moderate-severe stages is well recognized. In our cohort, serum CA-125 values were significantly elevated in patients with ovarian and mixed endometriosis lesions (median levels 48 U/mL), compared with those who had exclusively extraovarian foci (median levels 27 U/mL), and so the correlation between this marker and the surgical and pathologic finding of ovarian and deep endometriosis was found to be statistically significant; however, the location did not affect the fertility rate. (Fertil Steril (R) 2011;95:393-6. (C) 2011 by American Society for Reproductive Medicine.)