Endosalpingiosis: clinical presentation and follow-up.

OBJECTIVE: To define the clinical presentation and follow-up of women found to have endosalpingiosis.

METHODS: Subjects included for retrospective study were identified as having had a pathologic diagnosis of endosalpingiosis. Those subjects without coinciding pathologic diagnosis of endometriosis were then identified; their clinical charts were reviewed for information regarding the clinical presentation, surgical findings, therapeutic management, and clinical follow-up.

RESULTS: Review of 1,648 pathologic reports from Children's Hospital, Boston and 380 reports from Brigham and Women's Hospital identified 18 subjects with endosalpingiosis without pathologic evidence of endometriosis. Two clinical scenarios were identified, and designated Groups I and II. Group I consisted of 15 patients presenting with pelvic pain, and Group II consisted of 3 patients presenting with infertility, pancreatic cancer, and an abdominal abscess. Follow-up was obtained for 8 of the 15 patients in Group I for an average of 17 months, none of whom were pain-free off medications (oral contraceptives, danazol, or GnRH agonist), and 3 (38%) have required additional surgery (6, 10 or 12 months after the initial surgery) at which time all were found to have endometriosis. Follow-up was obtainable for the patient with infertility in Group II for 5 months, with no complaint of pelvic pain.

CONCLUSIONS: We report 18 patients with endosalpingiosis without confounding endometriosis. The clinical presentation is one of either pelvic pain or that of an incidental finding; the clinical course and response of those with pain is similar to that of endometriosis.