title: Epidemiological and clinical aspects of pelvic endometriosis–a case series.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe clinical and epidemiological aspects of patients with pelvic endometriosis who underwent laparoscopy at our service.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective study of 892 post-laparoscopy patients with histologically confirmed diagnosis of endometriosis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean age was 33.2 ± 6.3 years, and 78.7% of patients were Caucasian. We found that 76.9% of women in the sample had a higher education. Most (56.5%) patients were nulliparous, and 62.2% reported dysmenorrhea as the chief complaint. Chronic pelvic pain was the most prevalent symptom, followed by deep dyspareunia, reported by 56.8% and 54.7% of patients respectively. Infertility was reported by 39.8% of the 892 patients in the sample.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Endometriosis is most often diagnosed in the fourth decade of life. Patients with this condition present with multiple complaints, and must always undergo thorough questioning to properly guide diagnosis and monitor treatment results.
authors.affiliation: Hospital das Clínicas, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP. pbellelis@yahoo.com.br
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bellelis
authors.forename: João Antônio
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Dias
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Podgaec
authors.forename: Midgley
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gonzales
authors.forename: Edmund Chada
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Baracat
authors.forename: Maurício Simões
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Abrão
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004715:Endometriosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010535:Laparoscopy; D017699:Pelvic Pain / Q000209:etiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors