Quality of the clinical diagnosis of endometriosis

Background: Endometriosis is a benign but chronic disease, often associated with chronic pelvic pain and sterility in reproductive age women. Definite diagnosis of endometriosis requires surgical intervention. In our study we determined the sensitivity and specificity of the routine non-invasive diagnosis of endometriosis. Methods: 543 women underwent laparoscopy or laparotomy for benign gynecological reasons; of these, 156 women presented with endometriosis and 387 women presented without endometriosis. Charts were examined for preoperative prediction and diagnosis of endometriosis by gynecologists in private practice and by clinicians. Charts were also examined for the diagnosis after surgical and histological confirmation. Results: Out of 101 cases, where first time endometriosis was diagnosed, in 43 patients (42.6%) the diagnosis of endometriosis was accurately predicted preoperatively by clinicians. Gynecologists in private practice suspected endometriosis in 29.7% of the cases. In the group of at least one recurrence of endometriosis (n=55), 89.1% clinic and 74.5% private practice suspected the correct diagnosis before surgery. The sensitivity for clinical diagnosis of endometriosis was calculated to be 59.0% in the clinic and 54.5% in private practice. The specificity was calculated to be 95.6% in the clinic and 96.9% in private practice. Conclusions: According to the results of this study, the sensitivity of the clinical diagnosis for patients with newly detected endometriosis is very low, whereas it increases significantly for patients with recurrent disease. We recommend more investigations using non-invasive diagnostic tools. It should thereupon be possible to detect endometriosis earlier than the current delay of around nine years between the onset of symptoms and the final diagnosis.