History of adenomyosis

Abstract

The first description of a condition today recognised to be a form of adenomyosis was published in 1860 by Carl Rokitansky who reported one case of fibrous polyps of the uterus, containing nests of endometrial cells. In 1882 von Recklinghausen suggested the name adenomyoma uteri and by the end of the nineteenth century the condition was clearly described by several Authors. In spite of a clear description by Thomas Cullen, the medical community investigating ‘mucosal invasions’ of abdominal organs in general failed to identify them as being due to the heterotopic presence of uterine mucosa. It must be stressed that some of the early descriptions of adenomyomas would today be considered as cases of endometriosis, Cullen was the first to provide a description of the two main symptoms of adenomyosis: lengthened menstrual periods and a great deal of pain. In 1925 Sampson led the way to the separation between mucosal invasion of the uterine body and of peritoneal organs and introduced the term endometriosis for the extrauterine forms of invasions. The same year Frankl described the anatomical picture of the intramyometrial endometrial invagination and called it adenomyosis uteri.