A 10-Year Study of Endometriosis in an Indigenous Black African Population

Abstract

Background

Endometriosis is a debilitating disease in women of child-bearing age.

Objective

To describe the pattern of presentation, stage of endometriosis and biophysical profile of patients with endometriosis.

Method

A retrospective study of 61 consecutive infertile patients between June 2003 and November 2014.

Results

The means (±SD) of age (years) and of body mass index (BMI) (kg/m²) of the patients were 34.1 (4.3) and 25.8 (5.0), respectively. A relatively high percentage (43, 70.5%) of the women were in the age range of 31-40 years; had normal BMI (27, 44.3%); were nulliparous (53, 86.9%) and were of primary infertility (40, 65.6%). The mean (±SD) age at menarche, of cycle length, of the duration of flow and of years trying to conceive were 12.9 (1.7) years, 29.1 (2.7) days, 4.7 (1.1) days and 5.2 (3.8) years, respectively. A high proportion of them (37, 60.7%) presented with severe endometriosis. The main symptoms at presentation was dysmenorrhea (47, 73.8%). Of the 32 (52.5%) with associated utero-tubal factor, 20 (62.5%) were in severe stage of endometriosis. Among women with endometriosis, those with primary infertility were over three times more likely to present with menorrhagia than those with secondary infertility (χ² = 4.70; p value = 0.03; OR = 3.33; 95% CI = 1.10, 10.12). Only 3 (4.9%) had diagnosis of endometriosis in first-degree relative. Dysmenorrhea was a strong predictor of severe endometriosis.

Conclusions

There may be some trends in the biophysical profile of infertile women with endometriosis which may influence diagnosis and management.