INFERTILE WOMEN WITH AND WITHOUT ENDOMETRIOSIS - A CASE-CONTROL STUDYOF LUTEAL-PHASE AND OTHER INFERTILITY CONDITIONS

Objective. To assess the relationship in infertile women between endom etriosis and luteal phase defects and other infertility conditions. Se tting. University Medical School. Design. Case-control study. Patients . One hundred and seventy-four infertile women with endometriosis and 174 infertile women without endometriosis. all of them studied by lapa roscopy. The inclusion criteria were failure of six cycles of ovulatio n stimulation or abnormal preliminary study (abnormal pelvic physical, hysterosalpingographic or ultrasound findings). Results. The frequenc y of out-of-phase biopsies (16.1% vs 16.7%) as well as other endometri al abnormalities were similar in endometriosis associated infertility (EAI) and in non-endometriosis infertility (NEI). Mean progesterone an d prolactin levels, as well as the proportion of abnormal progesterone levels (37.4% vs 34.3%) and of hyperprolactinemia (12.9% vs 13.2%) we re similar in EAI and NEI. The frequency of uterine myomas was similar in both groups. Sperm characteristics were not better in EAI than in NEI. Higher endometriosis stages were not associated with a higher fre quency of the aforementioned conditions. Conclusion. Luteal phase defe cts, sperm abnormalities and myomas are no more common in EAI than in NEI or in advanced stages of endometriosis.