title: Familial endometriosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The study aimed to identify families with endometriosis and to document disease severity within the families and the clinical characteristics of the affected women.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Two hundred and thirty women with surgically confirmed endometriosis in 100 families were identified. The families consisted of 19 mother-daughter pairs, 1 set of cousins and 56 sister pairs. There were 5 families with 3 affected sisters, 1 family with 5 affected sisters, and 18 families with > or = 3 affected members in more than one generation. The mean age at the onset of symptoms and the mean age at surgical diagnosis was 22.1 +/- 8.8 SD (range 10-46) and 31.8 +/- 7.9 SD (range 15-56) years respectively. Seventy-nine women (34.3%) had revised AFS Stage I-II disease, and 151 (65.7%) had revised AFS Stage III-IV disease.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study confirms a familial tendency for endometriosis and supports the hypothesis that endometriosis has a genetic basis.
authors.affiliation: Nuffield Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kennedy
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mardon
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Barlow
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D004715:Endometriosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000601:surgery; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007044:Hysterectomy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010535:Laparoscopy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007813:Laparotomy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009520:New Zealand / Q000453:epidemiology; D009656:North America / Q000453:epidemiology; D010375:Pedigree; D015995:Prevalence; D012720:Severity of Illness Index