Pathological aspect and pathogenesis of endometriosis

Abstract

Historically, endometriosis was first described in Egyptian scrolls in the sixteenth century bc. The first scientific description of endometriosis was published by Carl Freiherr von Rokitansky in 1860. At this time, the concept of endometriosis as a disease entity was not established and it was assumed to be an enigmatic disease with an unknown pathology. Although extensive basic and clinical research has been carried from the last century until present, the pathogenesis of endometriosis is still controversial. Major theories on the pathogenesis of endometriosis are (1) metastases of endometrial tissues to an ectopic location (transplantation theory), (2) metaplastic development of endometrial tissue on the ectopic site (metaplastic theory), and (3) changes of the embryonic duct remnant epithelium into endometrial epithelium (müllerian remnants theory). A comprehensive understanding of the histopathogenesis of endometriosis is essential to the novel clinical approaches for the enigmatic disease.