title: Endometriosis in an adolescent population: the severance hospital in Korean experience.
abstract: The records of adolescent patients (10-21), who were admitted to the severance hospital between 1990 and 1999, were reviewed retrospectively to evaluate the age distribution, diagnosis, clinical stage, and treatment for endometriosis in adolescents. Thirty-nine patients who had undergone a laparotomy or laparoscopy and were diagnosed with endometriosis were identified. Endometriosis was classified according to the revised American Fertility Society classification (AFS). The chief symptoms leading to the diagnosis, clinical stage, age distribution, and treatment modality were reviewed. All patients, whose average age of menarche was 14.2, were diagnosed with endometriosis with an average interval of 5.9 years after menarche. The chief symptoms leading to the diagnosis were chronic pelvic pain (27%), acute pelvic pain (21%), a palpable pelvic mass (21%), and dysmenorrhea (18%). A laparoscopy was performed in 20 (51%). The majority of patients (44%) presented with the revised AFS classification stage II. Four patients (10%) presented with stage I, 11 (28%) with stage III and 7 (18%) with stage IV. Management after surgery included GnRH agonists (64.1%), expectant managements (25.7%), OCPs (5.1%) and danazol (5.1%). In adolescents with chronic pelvic pain, endometriosis is not rare. Therefore, early referral to a gynecologist to diagnose the etiology of the pelvic pain and initiate appropriate therapy is recommended.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, C.P.O. Box 8044, Seoul 120-752, Korea. swbai@yumc.yonsei.ac.kr
authors.forename: Sang Wook
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.forename: Hyun Jeong
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Jeong Yeon
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Kyung Ah
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.forename: Sei Kwang
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Dong Jae
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Chan Ho
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Ki Hyun
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Park
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004715:Endometriosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology