Endometriosis Index: A Software-Derived Score to Predict the Presence and Severity of the Disease

Abstract

Objective

To develop a clinical index that will positively predict the presence of endometriosis.

Design

Prospective single-center observational study. Setting: A hospital-based institute.

Patients

120 patients affected by chronic pelvic pain, infertility or with clinical suspicion of endometriosis. Interventions: Electronic processing of clinical data with software-assistance at the end of each consultation and digital video recording of surgeries.

Main Outcome Measures

Endometriosis Index (EI), the score calculated using clinical parameters correlated with macroscopic/microscopic presence or absence of endometriosis.

Results

Endometriosis was staged and treated in 95 cases, the remaining 25 women presented benign pathology with no endometriosis. Patients with positive operative findings of endometriosis had a mean (± standard deviation) pre-operative EI score of 22 ± 12, while mean EI value of patients with no operative findings of endometriosis was 8 ± 6 (p 28 (75th percentile value) versus women with EI score ≤ 28; with EI score > 28 this noninvasive test was predictive of DIE with a sensitivity of 72.4% and a specificity of 90.1%.

Conclusions

These data suggest that a dedicated Endometriosis Index is effective in identifying patients who would benefit from early surgical management. We propose the use of this non-invasive tool to reduce the delay between the onset of symptoms and a surgical diagnosis of endometriosis.