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Causes
By Mayo Clinic staffA process called retrograde menstruation is a likely explanation for endometriosis. In retrograde menstruation, menstrual blood containing endometrial cells flows back through the fallopian tubes and into the pelvic cavity instead of out of the body. These displaced endometrial cells stick to the pelvic walls and surfaces of pelvic organs, where they grow and continue to thicken and bleed over the course of the menstrual cycle.
Retrograde menstruation alone may not cause endometriosis, though. Instead, the condition may develop when one or more small areas of the abdominal lining turns into endometrial tissue. This is possible because the cells lining the abdominal and pelvic cavities are descended from embryonic cells with the potential to specialize and take on the structure and function of endometrial cells. What activates that potential remains unknown.
- Endometriosis. The National Women's Health Information Center. http://www.womenshealth.gov/faq/endometriosis.cfm. Accessed July 27, 2010.
- Schenken RS. Pathogenesis, clinical features, and diagnosis of endometriosis. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed July 27, 2010.
- Endometriosis. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. http://www.acog.org/publications/patient_education/bp013.cfm. Accessed July 27, 2010.
- Kokakoc E, et al. Endometriosis. Ultrasound Clinics. 2008;3:399.
- Kim WJ, et al. Endometriosis. In: Ferri FF. Ferri's Clinical Advisor 2010. St. Louis, Mo.: Mosby; 2009. http://www.mdconsult.com/book/player/book.do?method=display&type=bookPage&decorator=header&eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-323-05610-6..00014-7--s1670&uniq=211843402&isbn=978-0-323-05610-6#lpState=open&lpTab=contentsTab&content=4-u1.0-B978-0-323-05610-6..00014-7--s1670%3Bfrom%3Dtoc%3Btype%3DbookPage%3Bisbn%3D978-0-323-05610-6. Accessed July 27, 2010.
- Schenken RS. Overview of the treatment of endometriosis. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed July 27, 2010.
- Boyle KJ, et al. Benign gynecologic conditions. Surgical Clinics of North America. 2008;88:245.
- Templeman C. Adolescent endometriosis. Obstetrics & Gynecology Clinics of North America. 2009; 36:177.
- Amer S. Endometriosis. Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Reproductive Medicine 2008;18:126.
- Gallenberg M (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. July 29, 2010.
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