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Kinase signalling pathways represent viable targets for endometriosis treatment. At present, however, further improvements in clinical efficacy and the profile of adverse effects are required before these compounds can be useful for long-term endometriosis treatment. A better understanding of the molecular activity of these kinases, including the specific extracellular compounds that lead to their activation in endometriotic cells specifically should facilitate their improvement and could potentially lead to new, non-hormonal treatments of endometriosis.

Despite previous surgical excision, women with history of DIE present a higher risk of placenta previa, gestational hypertonia, and intrauterine growth restriction during pregnancy. Previous surgery for DIE does not seem to predispose to failed vaginal delivery.

His research interests include the pathophysiology of pain, recurrence and treatment non-response in endometriosis/adenomyosis, as well as the impact on fertility and pregnancy.

Introduction:Endometriosis is a common health problem, affecting 10% of women of reproductive age. Laparoscopic surgery is proven to relieve pain and to improve fertility in women with endometriosis. However, identifying peritoneal endometriosis lesions may be difficult due to their polymorphic aspects. Endometriosis lesions harbor a high degree of neovascularization. The visualization of tissue perfusion by the additional use of near infrared fluorescence imaging with indocyanine green (ICG) may improve the detection of endometriosis lesions. Material and methods:In a single-center, prospective, single-arm pilot study, patients undergoing laparoscopic surgery for suspected endometriosis and/or infertility were recruited. All patients first had white light imaging with systematical documentation of all suspicious areas. ICG was then administered intravenously at .3 mg/kg bodyweight and the near infrared imaging was activated and an identical documentation of suspected lesions was performed again. After removal, the specimen were sent to pathology. Clinical trial registration: clinicaltrials.gov NCT03850158. Results:In total, 173 suspected lesions were identified and excised, of which 150 had histologically proven endometriosis. Of the total number, 166 suspected lesions were detected using white-light and 32 with ICG. Among the 32 suspected lesions found with ICG, 22 were confirmed to be endometriosis. Seven additional lesions were identified with ICG alone, of which only one was histologically proven endometriosis. Positive predictive values were 89.8%, 68.8% and 86.7% for white-light laparoscopy alone, near-infrared (NIR)-ICG visualization alone, and the combination of white-light and NIR-ICG, respectively. ICG exposure time, previous abdominal surgery and rARSM stage showed a statistically significant impact on the ICG detection rate. In seven patients, ICG was used for the resection of deep infiltrating nodules from the rectum. In these cases, NIR fluorescence imaging with ICG was useful to define the borders between an endometriotic nodule and healthy tissue. Conclusions: The diagnostic value of NIR-ICG imaging in identifying endometriosis appears to be minimal. ICG exposure time over 20 minutes, no previous abdominal Preoperative symptoms, n (%) Pain 45 (71.4) Infertility 4 (6.3) Both 13 (20.6) Prior surgery for endometriosis, n (%) 34 (54.0) Previous abdominal surgery, n (%) 40 (63.5) Preoperative hormonal treatment, n (%) 38 (60.3) Abbreviations: n, number of patients; SD, standard deviation; rASRM, revised American Society for Reproductive Medicine.

A patients’ increasing interest in dietary modifications as a possible complementary or alternative treatment of endometriosis is observed. Unfortunately, the therapeutic potential of dietary interventions is unclear and to date no guidelines to assist physicians on this topic exist. The aim of this study, therefore, was to systematically review the existing studies on the effect of dietary interventions on endometriosis. An electronic-based search was performed in MEDLINE and COCHRANE. We included human and animal studies that evaluated a dietary intervention on endometriosis-associated symptoms or other health outcomes. Studies were identified and coded using standard criteria, and the risk of bias was assessed with established tools relevant to the study design. We identified nine human and 12 animal studies. Out of the nine human studies, two were randomized controlled trials, two controlled studies, four uncontrolled before-after studies, and one qualitative study. All of them assessed a different dietary intervention, which could be classified in one of the following principle models: supplementation with selected dietary components, exclusion of selected dietary components, and complete diet modification. Most of the studies reported a positive effect on endometriosis; they were however characterized by moderate or high-risk bias possibly due to the challenges of conducting dietary intervention trials. According to the available level of evidence, we suggest an evidence-based clinical approach for physicians to use during consultations with their patients. Further well-designed randomized controlled trials are needed to accurately determine the short-term and long-term effectiveness and safety of different dietary interventions.

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Patients with endometriosis undergoing ART may have additional risk of placenta previa. Despite the inability to determine if endometriosis alone or endometriosis plus ART increase the risk, physicians should be aware of the potential additional risk that endometriosis patients undergoing ART harbor.