World Endometriosis Society Newsletter

The VIII World Congress on Endometriosis held in San Diego, February 24-27, 2002, was an outstanding success, with delegates from all branches of the medical profession, women’s groups and representatives of the pharmaceutical industry attending.

The conference covered many topics of critical interest. They included Does Endometriosis have a Genetic Basis? How Do you Treat Endometriosis Associated-Infertility? New Drug Developments for Endometriosis, Peritoneal Adhesions and Invasion of Shed Endometrium, How Do you Treat Endometriosis-Associated Pelvic Pain and The Peritoneal Environment and Immunologic Aspects of Endometriosis. Additionally a pre-congress workshop on Advanced Laparoscopic Anatomy, Dissection & Reparative Surgery using Unembalmed Female Cadavers was sponsored by the American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopists.

The conference was held in the Hyatt-Regency, on the edge of San Diego’s picturesque Seaport Village, where both setting and weather combined to make conditions perfect for delegates. All lectures were well attended. Lively discussions continued over meal-breaks and through the evenings’ recreational activities. The importance of these exchanges of ideas between peers cannot be overestimated in terms of stimulating new interest and avenues of research. What they yield by way of results will undoubtedly be apparent to those attending the next World Endometriosis Congress in Maastricht, the Netherlands, in 2005.

Future issues of the WES e-newsletter will offer a comprehensive review of the literature on endometriosis every three months. Articles will be selected and reviewed by member of the WES Board and, where possible, abstracts will be provided. Eventually it is also hoped to provide automatic links to discussion forums. Members' comments on this endeavor are invited.

The WES Board met during the San Diego Conference. At this meeting Past President, John Rock, announced that as his Presidential initiative he would propose a determined effort be made to a produce a definitive classification of pain in endometriosis, based on degree of pain, and number and color of adhesions. Details still to be worked out.

An educational CD-rom, was distributed to all WES members in good standing. There are still some copies available for new members who join the Society.

Site of the 2008 WCE. Proposals were received from Athens, Melbourne and Singapore. While all three had considerable merits it was unanimously agreed that Melbourne should host the 2008 conference based on the quality of their proposed scientific program, conference facilities, cost and degree of support they have obtained from government, the scientific community and support groups.

Dr Robert Shaw, President of WES, has relocated to the Academic Division of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, University of Nottingham, Derby, England.

In future, the administration of WES will no longer be handled by Dr Maheux in Quebec city but will be taken over by Familles PCO in Montreal (see address at the end of the newsletter).

Japan: A program about endometriosis is being prepared for Japanese television by Sinako Sudo.

Worldwide: Endometriosis support groups, web sites and some women’s magazines all refer to a recent article linking high rates of autoimmune and endocrine disorders in women with endometriosis. This article appeared in the 2002 October issue of Human Reproduction, an abstract of which appears below as physicians will undoubtedly receive questions about this from patients.

Human Reproduction, volume 17, No 10, 2715-2724, October 2002 (C. 2002 European Society of Human Reproduction & Embryology)

N. Sinaii, SD Cleary, ML Ballweg, LK Nieman and P Stratton

High rates of autoimmune and endocrine disorders, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome and atopic diseases among women with endometriosis: a survey analysis.

BACKGROUND: Women with endometriosis may also have associated disorders related to autoimmune dysregulation or pain. This study examined whether the prevalence of autoimmune, chronic pain and fatigue and atopic disorders is higher in women with endometriosis than in the general female population.

METHODS & RESULTS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 1998 by the Endometriosis Association of 3680 US members with surgically diagnosed endometriosis. Almost all responders had pain (99%) and many reported infertility (41%). Compared with published rates in the general US female population, women with endometriosis had higher rates of hypothyroidism (9.6 versus 1.5% P<0.0001), fibromylagia (5.9 versus 3.4%, P< 0.0001), chronic fatigue syndrome (4.6 versus 0.03%, P <0.0001), rheumatoid arthritis (1.8 versus 1.2%, P = 0.001), systemic lupus erythematosus (0.8 versus 0.04%, P<0.0001), Sjogren’s syndrome (0.6 versus 0.03%, P<0.0001) and multiple sclerosis (0.5 versus 0.07%, P<0.0001), but not hyperthyroidism or diabetes. Allergies and asthma were more common among women with endometriosis alone (61%, P<0.001 and 12%, P< 0.001 respectively) and highest in those with fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome (88%, P<0.001 and 25%, P <0.001) respectively) than in the US female population (18%,P <0.001 and 5%, P<0.001 respectively).

CONCLUSIONS: Hypothyroidism, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, autoimmune diseases, allergies and asthma are all significantly more common in women with endometriosis than in women in the general US population. N. Sinaii and, LK Nieman and P Stratton: Pediatric and Reproductive Endocrinology, Branch of National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, MD. SD Cleary: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health and Health Services, George Washington University, Washington, DC. ML Ballweg: Endometriosis Association, International HQ, Milwaukee, WI. IXth World Congress of Endometriosis 2005 The IXth World congress of Endometriosis will be held in Maastricht, The Netherlands 15-17 September, 2005. The conference is being organized by Johannes Evers, Gerard Dunselman, Patrick Groothuis and Ton de Goeij and offers a wide-ranging and exciting program, including topics such as Endometrium, reflux menstruation, inflammation, adhesion invasion, local tissue effects, environmental influences, phytoestrogens, immunology, genetics, epigenetics, angiogenesis, apoptosis, vascular targeting, pain, the patient’s perspective, behavioural therapy, surgery, medical therapy, emerging therapies and others.

Maastricht, The Netherlands - 2005

Maastricht is the oldest city in The Netherlands and one of the most beautiful. Among other attractions, it offers fine dining, theatres, museums and excellent transportation. Anyone with an interest in Endometriosis is urged to attend. You can check for the latest conference developments at www.conferenceagency.com/wce.

Fall/Winter issue of the WES e-newsletter was prepared by Gillian Hobbs in conjunction with Familles PCO